Storage medium having stored therein information processing program, information processing apparatus, information processing method and information processing system

ABSTRACT

Provided is an information processing system which facilitates data communication between an information processing apparatus and another apparatus. Position data indicative of a position, at which the information processing apparatus which makes up the information processing system automatically performs short-distance wireless communication, is transmitted to a server. The server accumulates and stores the position indicated by the position data transmitted from each information processing apparatus. The position data accumulated and stored at the server is transmitted to an information processing apparatus when the server receives the request therefrom.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-280678, filed onDec. 16, 2010 is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a storage medium having stored thereinan information processing program, an information processing apparatus,an information processing method, and an information processing system,and more specifically a storage medium having stored therein aninformation processing program for displaying a communication positionof an information processing apparatus, the information processingapparatus, an information processing method and an informationprocessing system.

2. Description of the Background Art

Conventionally, there have been game apparatuses which exchanges data orthe like indicative of items necessary for proceeding a game, by usingwireless communications. For example, a game apparatus disclosed inJapanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No, 2008-136737 automaticallysearches for a game apparatus, which is a communication partner, withina communication range of the game apparatus, and performs automaticwireless communication in which the game apparatus automaticallyconnects to the communication partner for data exchange when thecommunication partner is found.

By going out of home while carrying the game apparatus, a user of thegame apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.2008-136737 attempts the automatic wireless communication with a gameapparatus of another user. It is, however, difficult for the user of thegame apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.2008-136737 to know locations in which the automatic wirelesscommunication can be performed. The game apparatus disclosed in JapaneseLaid-Open Patent Publication No, 2008-136737 therefore, cannotfacilitate data communication with the other game apparatus. Thus, it issuspect in terms of improvement of interest in the game.

SUMMARY OF ME INVENTION

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a storagemedium having stored therein an information processing program whichfacilitates data communication with another apparatus, an informationprocessing apparatus, an information processing method, and aninformation processing system.

In order to achieve the object, the present invention employs thefollowing features.

The information processing system of the present invention includes aplurality of information processing apparatuses and a server apparatuscommunicable with the plurality information processing apparatuses. Eachof the plurality of information processing apparatuses includes positioninformation acquisition means, wireless communication means, andcommunication information transmission means. The position informationacquisition means acquires a location of the information processingapparatus. The wireless communication means repeatedly searches foranother information processing apparatus that is within a short-distancewireless communication range to automatically establish a wirelessconnection therewith and automatically perform communication with theother information processing apparatus, as a communication partner, withwhich the wireless connection is established. The communicationinformation transmission means transmits to the server apparatus thelocation acquired by the position information acquisition means when thecommunication is performed by the wireless communication means, as acommunication position of the information processing apparatus. Theserver apparatus includes record information generation means and recordinformation transmission means. The record information generation meansgenerates record information, based on the respective communicationpositions transmitted by the communication information transmissionmeans of the plurality of information processing apparatuses, the recordinformation indicating respective records of the communication performedby the plurality of information processing apparatuses. The recordinformation transmission means transmits the record informationgenerated by the record information generation means to the informationprocessing apparatus. Also, each of the plurality of informationprocessing apparatuses further includes record information output means.The record information output means outputs the record informationtransmitted by the record information transmission means of the serverapparatus.

According to the above configuration example, the position at which theshort-distance wireless communication is automatically performed by theinformation processing apparatus which makes up the informationprocessing system can be managed as the communication position by theserver apparatus. The information processing apparatus is then be ableto receive and output the record information based on the communicationpositions managed by the server apparatus, therefore facilitating thedata communication with another apparatus such as an informationprocessing apparatus of another type. Furthermore, it is possible toprovide a user of the information processing apparatus with the pleasureto find a location at which the short-distance wireless communicationcan highly likely be performed automatically.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output the communication positions indicated by the recordinformation to display means for display.

According to the above configuration example, the communicationpositions indicated by the record information can be visually providedto the user.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output a current location acquired by the position informationacquisition means and the communication positions indicated by therecord information to the display means for display.

According to the above configuration example, the positionalrelationship between the current position of the user and thecommunication positions indicated by the record information can beeasily understood by the user of the information processing apparatus.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output a map indicative of distribution of the communicationpositions indicated by the record information to the display means fordisplay as a distribution map.

According to the above configuration example, the distribution of thecommunication positions indicated by the record information is displayedon the map, and thereby intuitively understood by the user.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output a map, in which respective images of the communicationpositions indicated by the record information are superimposed on a mapimage, to the display means for display as the distribution map.

According to the above configuration example, the communicationpositions indicated by the record information are represented by therespective images on the map and provided to the user.

In another configuration example, among the communication positionsindicated by the record information, the communication positions thatsatisfy a predetermined positional relationship may be grouped and therecord information output means may output a map, which includes aregion formed of the grouped communication positions, to the displaymeans for display as the distribution map.

According to the above configuration example, a region where thecommunication positions are dense thereby the automatic wirelesscommunication is highly likely performed can be highlighted for display.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output the distribution map, on which an image of a center positionof the region formed of the grouped communication positions is furthersuperimposed, to the display means for display.

According to the above configuration example, a position where theautomatic wireless communication is most likely performed within theregion where the communication positions are dense can be provided tothe user.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output the distribution map, on which an indicator for dividing themap into predetermined regions is further superimposed, to the displaymeans for display.

According to the above configuration example, the user is able tounderstand positions at which the automatic wireless communication isperformed in each of the predetermined regions divided based on theindicator on the map.

In another configuration example, based on the communication positionsindicated by the record information, the record information output meansmay calculate a density of the communication positions included in eachof the predetermined regions into which the map is divided based on theindicator and outputs a map, in which the predetermined regions areclassified by color depending on a calculation result, to the displaymeans for display as the distribution map.

According to the above configuration example, the predetermined regionson the map divided based on the indicator are each colored according tothe density of the communication position, which allows the user todetermine the possibility of the automatic wireless communication ineach predetermined region.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output a map, on which the indicator a fineness of which is adjustedaccording to the density of the communication positions included in eachof the predetermined regions into which the map is divided based on theindicator, to the display means for display as the distribution map.

According to the above configuration example, the density of thecommunication positions in each predetermined region of the map dividedbased on the indicator can be provided to the user, using the finenessof each predetermined region.

In another configuration example, based on the communication positionsindicated by the record information, the record information output meansmay calculate the density of the communication positions included ineach of the predetermined regions into which the map is divided based onthe indicator, and, if the calculated density of the communicationpositions in each of the respective predetermined regions is greaterthan a predetermined threshold value, the record information outputmeans may output a map, on which an indicator for more finely dividingthe predetermined regions is superimposed, to the display means fordisplay as the distribution map.

According to the above configuration example, among the predeterminedregions on the map divided based on the indicator, the regions dividedbased on an indicator having higher fineness can be provided to the useras regions having higher density of the communication positions.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay calculate a communication count which is obtained by counting thecommunication positions indicated by the record information in each ofrespective predetermined regions, and output a map indicative ofdistribution of the communication counts counted for each predeterminedregion to display means for display as a distribution map.

According to the above configuration example, positions where theautomatic wireless communication can highly likely be performed can beprovided to the user, using the count of automatic wirelesscommunication performed in each predetermined region on the map.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output a map in which the predetermined regions into which the mapis divided based on an indicator are classified by color according tothe communication counts counted for respective predetermined regions,to the display means for display as the distribution map.

According to the above configuration example, since the regions intowhich the map is divided based on the indicator are classified by coloraccording to the communication count, the user is able to determine thepossibility of performing the automatic wireless communication in eachof the regions into which the map is divided based on the indicator bycolor according to the communication count.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output a list of respective names of regions that include thecommunication positions indicated by the record information, to displaymeans for display.

According to the above configuration example, the respective names ofthe communication positions can be listed and thus provided to the user.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay extract the regions that include the communication positionsindicated by the record information from among regions of a map dividedby a predetermined method, and output a list of respective names of theextracted regions to the display means for display.

According to the above configuration example, among the regions on themap, the regions at which the automatic wireless communication isperformed can be listed and provided to the user.

In another configuration example, the communication informationtransmission means may further transmit to the server apparatus timeinformation regarding time associated with the communication position atwhich the communication is performed by the wireless communicationmeans, together with the communication position. In this case, therecord information generation means may generate the record informationwhich indicates, as the respective records of the communication, therespective communication positions of the plurality of informationprocessing apparatuses transmitted by the communication informationtransmission means of each of the plurality of information processingapparatuses and the time information associated with the respectivecommunication positions.

According to the above configuration example, the positions, at whichthe automatic wireless communication can highly likely be performed, canbe provided to the user, using the communication positions and timeinformation.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output the communication positions, which are associated with thetime information within a predetermined time period and are included ina predetermined region, to display means for display.

According to the above configuration example, among the communicationpositions accumulated at the server apparatus, only the communicationpositions at which the automatic wireless communication is performed inthe predetermined time period can be provided to the user.

In another configuration example, among the communication positionsindicated by the record information, the record information output meansmay count the communication positions, which are associated with thetime information within a time period designated by a user and areincluded in a region specified by the user, as communication count, andoutput transition of the communication count within the time period tothe display means for display.

According to the above configuration example, since the transition ofthe count of automatic wireless communications performed at a regiondesired by the user in a time period desired by the user can be providedto the user, the user is able to understand a period where the automaticwireless communication can highly likely be performed within the desiredtime period.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output a result obtained by predicting, based on the communicationpositions and time information indicated by the record information, thetransition of the communication count in the region specified by theuser within the time period designated by the user, to display means fordisplay.

According to the above configuration example, the information obtainedby predicting a period where the automatic wireless communication canhighly likely be performed in the time period desired by the user in theregion desired by the user can be provided to the user.

In another configuration example, the communication informationtransmission means may transmit, to the server apparatus, programinformation indicative of a program which handles informationcommunicated by the wireless communication means, together with thecommunication position at which the communication is performed by thewireless communication means. In this case, the record informationgeneration means may generate the record information, based on theprogram information and communication position transmitted by thecommunication information transmission means of each of the plurality ofinformation processing apparatuses, the record information indicatingthe respective communication positions of the plurality of informationprocessing apparatuses in association with the program indicated by theprogram information.

According to the above configuration example, the positions where theautomatic wireless communication of the data handled by the programindicated by the program information can highly likely be performed canbe provided to the user.

In another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output the communication positions associated with the programinformation of a program selected by a user to display means fordisplay.

According to the above configuration example, the positions, at whichthe automatic wireless communication of the data handled by the programdesired by the user is performed, can be provided to the user.

In another configuration example, the communication informationtransmission means may transmit, to the server apparatus, userinformation indicative of a user of the information processing apparatuswith which the communication is performed by the wireless communicationmeans, together with the communication position at which thecommunication is performed by the wireless communication means. In thiscase, the record information generation means generates the recordinformation, based on the communication position and user informationtransmitted by the communication information transmission means of eachof the plurality of information processing apparatuses, the recordinformation indicating the respective communication positions of theplurality of information processing apparatuses in association with theuser information, as the respective records of the communicationperformed by the plurality of information processing apparatuses.

According to the above configuration example, the position, at which theautomatic wireless communication, is performed by the informationprocessing apparatus of the user indicated by the user information, canbe provided.

in another configuration example, the record information output meansmay output the communication position associated with the userinformation indicative of a user previously registered in the owninformation processing apparatus, based on the communication positionand user information indicated by the record information transmitted bythe record information transmission means, to display means for display.

According to the above configuration example, the communicationpositions at which the automatic wireless communication is performed byonly the information processing apparatus of the user previouslyregistered thereto can be provided to the user. It is possible to causethe user of the information processing apparatus to understand thecommunication positions of other users having a relationship with asclose as previously registering the other users in the informationprocessing apparatus.

In another configuration example, the server apparatus may furtherinclude communication information reception means and count means. Thecommunication information reception means receives the communicationposition and user information together transmitted by the communicationinformation transmission means of each of the plurality of informationprocessing apparatuses. The count means counts the communicationpositions which are received by the communication information receptionmeans within a predetermined time period for each user informationtransmitted together with the communication position.

According to the above configuration example, the communication count ismanaged for each user of the information processing apparatus whichperforms the automatic wireless communication, which can be used forranking the users according to the communication count.

Also, another information processing system of the present invention isan information processing system which includes a plurality ofinformation processing apparatuses and a server apparatus communicablewith the plurality of information processing apparatuses. Each of theplurality of information processing apparatuses includes positioninformation acquisition means, wireless communication means, andcommunication information transmission means. The position informationacquisition means acquires a location of the information processingapparatus. The wireless communication means repeatedly searches foranother apparatus that is within a short-distance wireless communicationrange to automatically establish a wireless connection therewith andautomatically perform communication with the other apparatus, as acommunication partner, with which the wireless connection isestablished. The communication acceptance information transmission meanstransmits, to the server apparatus, communication acceptance informationindicative of a state where the communication by the wirelesscommunication means is acceptable, together with the location acquiredby the position information acquisition means. The server apparatusincludes communication acceptable information transmission means. Thecommunication acceptable information transmission means transmits toeach of the plurality of information processing apparatuses a latestlocation of the information processing apparatus capable of acceptingthe communication by the wireless communication means, the latestlocation being transmitted based on the communication acceptanceinformation transmitted by the communication acceptance informationtransmission means of each of the plurality of information processingapparatuses. Each of the plurality of information processing apparatusesfurther includes output means. The output means outputs the latestlocation transmitted by the communication acceptable informationtransmission means.

According to the above configuration example, among the informationprocessing apparatuses which make up the information processing system,a location of the information processing apparatus that is in a state toautomatically perform the wireless communication can be provided to theinformation processing apparatuses, therefore facilitating the datacommunication with other apparatuses. Furthermore, it is possible toprovide the users of the information processing apparatuses with thepleasure to find a location at which the automatic wirelesscommunication can highly likely be performed.

Also, another of information processing system of the present inventionis an information processing system which includes a plurality ofinformation processing apparatuses and a server apparatus communicablewith the plurality of information processing apparatuses. Each of theplurality of information processing apparatuses includes positioninformation acquisition means, wireless communication means, andcommunication information transmission means. The position informationacquisition means acquires a location of the information processingapparatus. The wireless communication means repeatedly searches foranother apparatus that is within a short-distance wireless communicationrange to automatically establish a wireless connection therewith andautomatically perform communication with the other apparatus, as acommunication partner, with which the wireless connection isestablished. The communication information transmission means transmitsto the server apparatus the location acquired by the positioninformation acquisition means when the communication is performed by thewireless communication means, as a communication position of theinformation processing apparatus. The server apparatus includescommunication information storage means, generation means, and outputinformation transmission means. The communication information storagemeans accumulates and stores the communication position transmitted bythe communication information transmission means of each of theplurality of information processing apparatuses. The generation meansgenerates the communication positions accumulated by the communicationinformation storage means as output information to be output by each ofthe plurality of information processing apparatuses. The outputinformation transmission means transmits the output informationgenerated by the generation means to each of the plurality ofinformation processing apparatuses. Each of the plurality of informationprocessing apparatuses further includes output means. The output meansoutputs the output information transmitted by the output informationtransmission means.

According to the above configuration example, the position at which theshort-distance wireless communication is automatically performed in theinformation processing apparatus which makes up the informationprocessing system can be managed as the communication position at theserver apparatus. The server apparatus generates the record informationindicative of the managed communication position and transmits thegenerated record information to the information processing apparatus,therefore facilitating the data communication with other apparatuses.Furthermore, the pleasure to find the location at which theshort-distance wireless communication can highly likely be performedautomatically can be provided to the user.

Also, another information processing system of the present invention isan information processing system which includes a plurality ofinformation processing apparatuses and a server apparatus communicablewith the plurality of information processing apparatuses. Each of theplurality of information processing apparatuses includes positioninformation acquisition means, wireless communication means, andcommunication information transmission means. The position informationacquisition means acquires a location of the information processingapparatus. The wireless communication means repeatedly searches foranother apparatus that is within a short-distance wireless communicationrange to automatically establish a wireless connection therewith andautomatically perform communication with the other apparatus, as acommunication partner, with which the wireless connection isestablished. The communication information transmission means transmitsto the server apparatus as a communication position, either one of thelocation of the information processing apparatus acquired by theposition information acquisition means when the communication isperformed by the wireless communication means and a location acquired bythe position information acquisition means of the communication partner.The server apparatus includes record information generation means andrecord information transmission means. The record information generationmeans generates record information, generated based on the respectivecommunication positions transmitted by the communication informationtransmission means of the plurality of information processingapparatuses, the record information indicating respective records of thecommunication performed by the plurality of information processingapparatuses. The record information transmission means transmits therecord information generated by the record information generation meansto the information processing apparatus. Also, each of the plurality ofinformation processing apparatuses further includes record informationoutput means. The record information output means outputs the recordinformation transmitted by the record information transmission means ofthe server apparatus.

According to the above configuration example, any one of the respectivelocations of the information processing apparatuses that automaticallyperform the short-distance wireless communication therebetween among theinformation processing apparatuses which makes up the informationprocessing system can be managed as the communication position at theserver apparatus. The information processing apparatus can receive andoutput the record information indicative of the communication positionmanaged at the server apparatus, therefore, facilitating the datacommunication with other apparatuses. Furthermore, the pleasure to findthe location at which the short-distance wireless communication canhighly likely be performed automatically can be provided to the user.

Also, another information processing system of the present invention isan information processing system which includes a plurality ofinformation processing apparatuses and a server apparatus communicablewith the plurality of information processing apparatuses. Each of theplurality of information processing apparatuses include positioninformation acquisition means, wireless communication means, andcommunication information transmission means. The position informationacquisition means acquires a location of the information processingapparatus. The wireless communication means repeatedly searches foranother apparatus that is within a short-distance wireless communicationrange and which has necessary information to be transmitted/received, toautomatically establish a wireless connection therewith andautomatically transmit/receive the necessary information to/from theother apparatus, as a communication partner, with which the wirelessconnection is established. The communication information transmissionmeans transmits to the server apparatus the location acquired by theposition information acquisition means when the necessarytransmission/reception of the information is conducted to/from thecommunication partner, as a communication position of the informationprocessing apparatus. The server apparatus includes record informationgeneration means and record information transmission means. The recordinformation generation means generates record information, based on therespective communication positions transmitted by the communicationinformation transmission means of the plurality of informationprocessing apparatuses, the record information indicating respectiverecords of the communication performed by the plurality of informationprocessing apparatuses. The record information transmission meanstransmits the record information generated by the record informationgeneration means to the information processing apparatus. Also, each ofthe plurality of information processing apparatuses further includesrecord information output means. The record information output meansoutputs the record information transmitted by the record informationtransmission means of the server apparatus.

According to the above configuration example, when necessary informationis transmitted/received between the information processing apparatuseswhich make up the information processing system, the location at whichthe transmission/reception is conducted can be managed as thecommunication position at the server apparatus. That is, only thecommunication position, at which the transmission/reception of thenecessary information is completed normally, can be managed at theserver apparatus. Then, the server apparatus generates the performanceinformation indicative of the managed communication position to transmitthe generated performance information to the information processingapparatus, therefore facilitating the data communication with otherapparatuses. Furthermore, the pleasure to find the location at which theshort-distance wireless communication can highly likely be performedautomatically can be provided to the user.

Also, the present invention may be implemented in a form of aninformation processing apparatus which includes the means describedabove or a storage medium which stores therein an information processingmethod or information processing program which includes respectiveoperations performed by the means described above.

According to the present invention, the storage medium having storedtherein the information processing program which facilitates the datacommunication with another apparatus, the information processingapparatus, the information processing method and the informationprocessing system can be provided.

These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of the present invention when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example internal configuration of a gameapparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example configuration of an informationprocessing system according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example internal configuration of aserver according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an example of a display state of communication positions inthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in a main memoryof the game apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in an internaldata storage memory of the game apparatus according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in a main memoryof the server according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of data to be stored in an HDD ofthe server according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of an automaticwireless communication process which is performed by a CPU of the gameapparatus according to the present invention executing an automaticwireless communication program;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of a serverprocess which is performed by a CPU of the server according to thepresent invention executing a server process program;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of acommunication position display process which is performed by the CPU ofthe game apparatus according to the present invention executing acommunication position display program;

FIG. 12 is another example of a display state of the communicationpositions in the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a still another example of a display state of thecommunication positions in the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a still another example of a display state of thecommunication positions in the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a still another example of a display state of thecommunication positions in the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a still another example of a display state of thecommunication positions in the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a still another example of a display state of thecommunication positions in the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a still another example of a display state of thecommunication positions in the present invention; and

FIG. 19 is a still another example of a display state of thecommunication positions in the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[Internal Configuration of Game Apparatus 1]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example internal configuration of a gameapparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In thepresent embodiment, the case where the game apparatus 1 is a hand-heldgame apparatus portable by a user is described by way of example. Thegame apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes electronicparts such as an information processing section 31, a main memory 32, aninternal data storage memory 33, a wireless communication module 34, anexternal memory I/F 35, a power supply circuit 36, operation buttons 37,an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 38, and the like.

The information processing section 31 includes a CPU (Central ProcessingUnit) 311 and a VRAM (Video RAM) 312. The CPU 311 executes apredetermined program. When the CPU 311 executing the predeterminedprogram generates image data, the image data is written to the VRAM 312.The image data written to the VRAM 312 is output to the LCD 38 by anoutput circuit (not shown), thereby displaying an image represented bythe image data on the LCD 38.

Also, the main memory 32, the internal data storage memory 33, thewireless communication module 34, the external memory I/F 35, the powersupply circuit 36, the operation buttons 37, the LCD 38, and the likeare connected to the information processing section 31.

The main memory 32 is volatile storage means used as a work area or abuffer area for the CPU 311. That is, the main memory 32 temporarilystores various types of data used for communication processing,application processing, and the like, and temporarily stores apredetermined program acquired from the outside (an external memory 39or another device, for example). In the present embodiment, the use of aPSRAM (Pseudo-SRAM) as an example of the main memory 32 is assumed.

The internal data storage memory 33 is implemented as a nonvolatilereadable and writable memory (for example, a NAND flash memory), and isused for storing predetermined programs and predetermined data. Forexample, a program for wireless communication using the wirelesscommunication module 34 and data transmitted or received by the wirelesscommunication are stored in the internal data storage memory 33.

The wireless communication module 34 has a function of connecting to awireless LAN by a method conforming to, for example, IEEE 802.11.b/g/nstandard. The function of connecting to the wireless LAN is used fordirectly communicating wirelessly with another device such as astationary game apparatus and an access point described below. Also, aswill be described, the access point is connected to the Internetcommunication network 3 in the present embodiment. Therefore, if the CPU311 uses the wireless communication module 34, communication even withthe stationary game apparatus or another device via the Internetcommunication network 3 can be performed. In addition, the wirelesscommunication module 34 also has a function of performing the wirelesscommunication with another hand-held game apparatus of the same type bya predetermined communication scheme (this scheme is used forbelow-described “automatic wireless communication”). In the presentembodiment, it is assumed, as an example, that the wirelesscommunication performed with the other hand-held game apparatus of thesame type by the predetermined communication scheme is short-distancewireless communication which uses a radio wave having intensity whichallows the communicable range to be a few tens of meters. In thismanner, by using the wireless communication module 34, the CPU 311 isable to transmit/receive data to/from another device such as thestationary game apparatus or another hand-held game apparatus of thesame type.

The external memory I/F 35 includes a connector (not shown) forelectrically connecting the external memory 39 to the game apparatus 1.The external memory I/F 35 reads/writes data from/to the external memory39 attached to the aforementioned connector, according to an instructiongiven from the CPU 311. For example, the predetermined program is readout from the external memory 39 and executed by the CPU 311 or data,which is generated in accordance with the CPU 311 executing the program,is written to the external memory 39.

The power supply circuit 36 controls power from a power supply(typically, a rechargeable battery) included in the game apparatus 1,and supplies the power to the components of the game apparatus 1.

The operation buttons 37 include operation buttons provided at aplurality of positions where these buttons are operable by a finger whenthe user holds the game apparatus 1. Operation data indicative of aninput state of each operation button 37 is output from the correspondingoperation button 37 to the CPU 311, and the input state indicateswhether or not the operation button 37 has been pressed. The CPU 311acquires the operation data output from each operation button 37 toperform a process according to the input from the user made on theoperation button 37.

The LCD 38 acquires the image data, which is written to the VRAM 312,from the output circuit (not shown) and displays an image represented bythe acquired image data.

As shown by way of example in FIG. 1, the external memory 39 isconnected to the external memory I/F 35. The external memory 39 isnonvolatile storage means for storing programs which are executed by theCPU 311. The external memory 39 includes, for example, a read-onlysemiconductor memory and a readable and writable semiconductor memory.The external memory 39 is detachably connected to the external memoryI/F 35. When the external memory 39 is connected to the external memoryI/F 35, the CPU 311 can load a program stored in the external memory 39.The program loaded by the CPU 311 is stored in the main memory 32. TheCPU 311 executes the program stored in the main memory 32, and thereby apredetermined process is performed. Data (for example, the image data,and the like), which is necessary for the CPU 311 to execute programs,is also stored in the external memory 39. The data required by the CPU311 can be loaded from the external memory 39 by the CPU 311 if theexternal memory 39 is connected to the external memory I/F 35. The dataloaded by the CPU 311 is stored in the main memory 32, and loadedtherefrom, according to need, by the CPU 311 which executes programs.

Also, the external memory 39 includes GPS (Global Positioning System)391 as shown by way of example in FIG. 1. The GPS 391 sequentiallydetermines a position on the earth by using a conventionally knownscheme based on a signal emitted from an artificial satellite goingaround the earth orbit. The position determined by the GPS 391 is alocation of the game apparatus 1 on the earth. The position isrepresented by latitude and longitude. The GPS 391 determines theposition at predetermined time intervals. Each time in determining theposition, the GPS 391 generates position data which indicates thedetermined position. The position data generated by the GPS 391 isloaded according to need by the CPU 311 in the same manner as the otherdata stored in the external memory 39 is loaded therefrom.

This is the description of the example internal configuration of thegame apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. Next, an exampleof an information processing system according to the present embodimentwill be described.

[Configuration of Information Processing System]

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example configuration of the informationprocessing system 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown byway of example in FIG. 2, the information processing system 10 accordingto the present embodiment includes one or more game apparatuses 1, oneor more AP (Access Point) 2, the Internet communication network 3, andthe server 5.

The AP2 is a conventionally known access point. In the presentembodiment, as an example, it is assumed that all the AP2 are connectedto the Internet communication network 3. Also, in the presentembodiment, AP provided by a manufacturer of the game apparatuses 1, APprovided at a user's private residence, AP provided by a company otherthan the manufacturer, and the like correspond to the AP2 shown in FIG.2 by way of example. The AP2 each include a function of automaticallysearching for the game apparatuses 1 positioned within the communicablerange. On the other hand, as will be described below, the game apparatus1 can automatically start the wireless communication in accordance withthe AP2 that exists within the communicable range and automaticallysearching for the game apparatuses 1. Therefore, the AP2 can relay,automatically or according to a request received from the game apparatus1, communication between the game apparatus 1 and various types ofcommunication terminals (for example, the server 5 described below, andthe like), which are connected to the Internet communication network 3.

The server 5 is connected to the Internet communication network 3 andtransmits/receives data to/from each game apparatus 1 via the AP2 whichis also connected to the Internet communication network 3.

This is the description of the example configuration of the informationprocessing system 10 according to the present embodiment. Next, anexample internal configuration of the server 5 will be described.

[Internal Configuration of Server]

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example internal configuration of theserver 5. In FIG. 3, the server 5 includes a CPU 51, a main memory 52, acommunication section 53, and an HDD 54 which are communicably connectedto one another via a communication bus 55.

The CPU 51 executes a predetermined program. The main memory 52 isvolatile storage means used as a work area or a buffer area for the CPU51. The main memory 52 temporarily stores various types of data which isused when the CPU 51 executes the predetermined program, and temporarilystores programs that are loaded from the HDD 54. In the presentembodiment, the use of a PSRAM as an example of the main memory 52 isassumed.

The communication section 53 is connected to the Internet communicationnetwork 3. The communication section 53 executes transmission/receptionof data between the server 5 and various types of devices connected tothe Internet communication network 3, in accordance with an instructiongiven from the CPU 51. The communication section 53 is used according toneed when the CPU 51 executes the predetermined program. By using thecommunication section 53, the CPU 51 can perform communication,according to need, with each game apparatus 1 via the Internetcommunication network 3 and the AP2.

The HDD 54 is a conventionally known hard disk drive and is a storagedevice for storing the program which is executed by the CPU 51. The CPU51 loads the program stored in the HDD 54, and stores the program in themain memory 52. The CPU 51 executes the program that has been loadedfrom the HDD 54 and stored in the main memory 52, and thereby apredetermined process is performed. Data, which is necessary for the CPU51 to execute the program, is also stored in the HDD 54 The datarequired by the CPU 51 is loaded from the HDD 54 and stored in the mainmemory 52. The data stored in the main memory 52 is loaded according toneed by the CPU 51 which executes the program.

This is the description of the example internal configuration of theserver 5 according to the present embodiment. Next, an outline of aprocess performed in the information processing system 10 according tothe present embodiment will be described.

[Outline of Information Processing System]

In the information processing system 10 (hereinafter, referred to aspresent system) according to the present embodiment, respectivepositions of the game apparatuses 1 when performing the automaticwireless communication described below are managed as communicationpositions by the server 5. More specifically, the game apparatus 1 inthe present system acquires the position data generated by the GPS 391,when performing the automatic wireless communication. The position dataacquired by the game apparatus 1 is transmitted as the position datarepresenting the communication position to the server 5. The server 5accumulates and stores in the main memory 52 the position datatransmitted from each game apparatus 1 in the present system. Thisallows the server 5 to manage all communication positions of all thegame apparatuses 1 in the present system.

The communication positions managed by the server 5 are transmitted fromthe server 5 to the requestor game apparatus 1, according to the requestreceived from the game apparatus 1. More specifically, the gameapparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can display thecommunication positions managed by the server 5 by performingcommunication with the server 5. In the description of the presentembodiment, the case where, among the communication positions managed bythe server 5, the game apparatus 1 displays the communication positionsthat are near the game apparatus 1 is described by way of example. Whendisplaying the communication positions that are near the game apparatus1, the game apparatus 1 requests the communication positions from theserver 5. For requesting the communication positions, the game apparatus1 acquires the position data from the GPS 391 as data which representsthe current position of itself. The game apparatus 1 then transmits theacquired position data to the server 5, thereby requesting thecommunication positions that are near the current position from theserver 5. When received the request or the communication positions fromthe game apparatus 1, the server 5 generates a communication positionimage which indicates the requested communication positions that arenear the current position of the game apparatus 1 on a map image. Aftergenerating the communication position image, the server 5 transmits thecommunication position image data, which represents the generatedcommunication position image, to the game apparatus 1 that has requestedthe communication positions.

This allows, in the present system, each game apparatus 1 to acquire thecommunication positions that are near the game apparatus 1, according toneed. Each game apparatus 1 can then display on the LCD 38 thecommunication position image which is represented by the communicationposition image data acquired from the server 5. FIG. 4 is a diagramshowing an example display state in which the communication positionimage generated by the server 5 is displayed on the LCD 38. In FIG. 4,the communication position image is displayed on the entire displayscreen of the LCD 38. A current position Gi of the game apparatus 1 isindicated at a display position of an image representing a star, andcommunication positions Ti that are near the game apparatus 1 areindicated at respective display positions of images each representing acircle. While, in FIG. 4, a symbol Ti is added to merely one imagerepresenting a circle, it is assumed that the display positions of allthe images of a circle in FIG. 4 each indicate a correspondingcommunication position Ti. The current position Gi may not necessarilybe displayed when the communication positions Ti are displayed. In thismanner, in the present system, the positions, at which the automaticwireless communication is performed, near the game apparatus 1, can beprovided to the user.

The case where the game apparatuses 1 performing the automatic wirelesscommunication therebetween communicate with the server 5 is shown by wayof example in FIG. 2. However, as will be apparent, even the gameapparatus 1 not performing the automatic wireless communication canrequest the communication positions from the server 5 and display thecommunication position image.

This is the description of the outline of the present system. Next, anoutline of the automatic wireless communication which is performed byeach game apparatus 1 of the present system will be described.

[Outline of Automatic Wireless Communication]

The external memory 39 attachable to the game apparatus 1 of the presentsystem includes one or more various types of external memories 39 inwhich predetermined programs, such as a predetermined game program and apredetermined application program, are previously stored. The user ofthe game apparatus 1 can select the external memory 39 in which adesired program is previously stored, from among the one or more varioustypes of external memories 39, and attach the external memory 39 to theuser's game apparatus 1. The programs previously stored in the externalmemory 39 include a program capable of transmission and reception ofparticular data by the automatic wireless communication. In the presentembodiment, the case where the external memory 39 having stored thereinthe game program that requires the transmission and reception of theparticular data by the automatic wireless communication is connected tothe external memory I/F 35 is described by way of example. Also, in thepresent embodiment, the case where the particular data is data(hereinafter, referred to as item data) representing an item which isrequired for proceeding the game and is provided to the user by the gameprogram is described by way of example.

The game program that requires the automatic wireless communication istypically configured so that, when the CPU 311 is executing the gameprogram, the item data can be specified in a particular scene, inaccordance with an operation performed by the user on each operationbutton 37. The CPU 311 executes a program (hereinafter, referred to asautomatic wireless communication program) which causes the CPU 311 toperform the automatic wireless communication, and thereby the item dataspecified by the user is transmitted or received. That is, the item datais transmitted or received by the CPU 311 executing the automaticwireless communication program which is independent of the game program.

The item data is stored in the internal data storage memory 33 whenspecified by the user. In addition, the item data received by theautomatic wireless communication is also stored in the internal datastorage memory 33. The item data specified by the user and the item datareceived by the automatic wireless communication are stored in adedicated area (hereinafter, referred to as automatic wirelesscommunication data area) in the internal data storage memory 33. Theitem data specified by the user and the item data received by theautomatic wireless communication are stored in the automatic wirelesscommunication data area so as to correspond to the game program thathandles the item data.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the automatic wirelesscommunication program is continuously executed by the CPU 311 as long asthe game apparatus 1 is turned on. For example, when the game program isexecuted in the game apparatus 1, the automatic wireless communicationprogram is executed in parallel with the game program. Also, forexample, even when the game program is not executed in the gameapparatus 1, the automatic wireless communication program is performedas long as the game apparatus 1 is turned on.

When the automatic wireless communication program is executed in thegame apparatus 1, the CPU 311 uses the wireless communication module 34to repeatedly search for other game apparatuses 1 that exist within thecommunicable range, according to the automatic wireless communicationprogram. When the game apparatus 1 that has the item data handled by thesame game program is found, these game apparatuses 1 wirelessly connectto each other to execute transmission/reception of the item datatherebetween.

This allows the user of the game apparatus 1 to automatically transmitand provide the specified item to the game apparatus 1 of another usereven when the game apparatus 1 of the user is not in use. On the otherhand, the user of the game apparatus 1 can automatically receive andacquire the item specified by the user of the another game apparatus 1from the another game apparatus 1. Implementing the game apparatus 1 asone having the hand-held type as described above allows the user to goout while carrying the game apparatus 1 of the present system withhim/her. The automatic wireless communication is automatically performedeven when the game apparatus 1 is not in use as described above. Thisprovides the user with anticipation that the user may be able to acquirean item required for proceeding the game while being out merely by goingout while carrying the game apparatus with him/her without using it, andpleasure that the user was be able acquire the item while being outwithout noticing.

This is the outline of the automatic wireless communication which isexecuted by each game apparatus 1 of the present system. Next, anoutline of server process for the server 5 of the present system tomanage the communication positions of the game apparatuses 1 will bedescribed.

[Outline of Server Process]

Each game apparatus 1 of the present system transmits to the server 5the position data acquired from UPS 391 when performing the automaticwireless communication as the position data representing thecommunication position. The position data transmitted from each gameapparatus 1 of the present system is accumulated and stored in the HDD54 of the server 5.

The communication positions each represented by the position dataaccumulated in the HDD 54 are transmitted from the server 5 to therequestor game apparatus 1 when the server 5 receives the requestreceived from the game apparatus 1. In the present embodiment, asdescribed above, it is assumed that the communication positionsrequested by the game apparatus 1 are communication positions near thecurrent position of the game apparatus 1 at which the game apparatus 1requests the communication positions. The game apparatus 1, whenrequesting the communication positions, acquires the position datarepresenting the current position from the UPS 391 and transmits thecommunication position request data which includes the position data ascurrent position data to the server 5. In this manner, the communicationpositions near the current position of the game apparatus 1 arerequested by each game apparatus 1 to the server 5.

If the server 5 receives the requests of the communication positions byreceiving the communication position request data from the gameapparatus 1, the server 5 generates data to transmit the communicationpositions to the game apparatus 1 that has requested the communicationpositions. For generating the data to be transmitted to the gameapparatus 1, the server 5 first refers to the current position which isindicated by the current position data included in the receivedcommunication position request data. After referring to the currentposition of the game apparatus 1, the server 5 searches thecommunication positions stored in the HDD 54 for the communicationpositions that are included in a region having a predetermined size inwhich the referred current position is in the center position.

Next, the server 5 previously stores in the HDD 54 data, as map imagedata, which represents a map image of a region (for example, if the gameapparatus 1 is sold on the domestic market, the entire domestic region)in which the game apparatuses 1 of the present system possibly exist.The server 5 then crops out, from an image represented by the map imagedata, an image of a map corresponding to the region, based on thecurrent position, having the predetermined size and which is referred towhen the server 5 receives the communication position request data. Themap image data also includes data (hereinafter, referred to ascorrespondence data) which indicates latitude and longitude on the maprepresented by the map image represented by the map image data andtwo-dimensional coordinates (typically, X-Y coordinates) of the mapimage corresponding to each other. After cropping out the map image, theserver 5 performs a process of generating an image (an image on whichrespective images representing the communication positions issuperimposed) as the communication position image, in which the searchedcommunication positions are plotted on the cropped map image. At thistime, while referring to the correspondence data, the server 5 plots thesearched communication positions so as to correspond to thetwo-dimensional coordinates of the map image cropped out.

After generating the communication position image data, the server 5transmits the generated communication position image data to the gameapparatus 1 that has requested the communication positions. This is thedescription of the outline of the server process. Next, an outline of acommunication position display process for the game apparatus 1 todisplay the communication positions will be described.

[Communication Position Display Process]

In the present embodiment, as an example, the game apparatus 1 requeststhe communication positions as described above when a program (acommunication position display program) for displaying the communicationpositions on the LCD 38 is executed in the game apparatus 1. When thecommunication position display program is executed in the game apparatus1, the communication position request data described above is firstgenerated and transmitted to the server 5. Next, the communicationposition image data which is transmitted from the server 5 in responseto the communication position request data is received and stored in themain memory 32. The communication position image data is stored in themain memory 32, and the communication position image represented by thedata is displayed on the LCD 38.

This allows the user of the game apparatus 1 to know the positions, atwhich the automatic wireless communication is performed, near thecurrent position where the user caused the game apparatus 1 to executethe communication position display program. In addition, by knowing thepositions at which the automatic wireless communication is performed,the user can go to a position at which the automatic wirelesscommunication can highly likely be performed to enhance the possibilityto obtain the pleasure as described in the outline of the automaticwireless communication. The data communication between the gameapparatuses 1 in the present system can thus be facilitated.

This is the outline of the communication position display processperformed by each game apparatus 1 of the present system. Next, data andprograms to be stored in the main memory 32 of each game apparatus 1 inthe present system will be described.

[Data to be Stored in Main Memory 32]

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of data and programs to be storedin the main memory 32 of each game apparatus 1 according to the presentembodiment. The main memory 32 stores therein communication-prohibitedapparatus data 61, communication position image data 62, communicationposition request data 63, game data 64, and various programs 70. Amongthe data and programs shown in FIG. 5, the data is data which isgenerated or stored in accordance with the CPU 311 executing the variousprograms 70. Among the data and programs shown in FIG. 5, the programsare programs which are loaded from the external memory 39 or theinternal data storage memory 33, according to need, when the CPU 311executes the programs, respectively.

The communication-prohibited apparatus data 61 is used to prevent theCPU 311 from transmitting and receiving overlapping data in a short timeperiod in the automatic wireless communication with the same gameapparatus 1. As shown by way of example in FIG. 5, thecommunication-prohibited apparatus data 61 includes an apparatusidentifier 611 and a communication time 612. The apparatus identifier611 is an identifier for uniquely identifying the game apparatus 1 ofthe communication partner to/from which data is transmitted/receivedthrough the automatic wireless communication. In the present embodiment,the use of a MAC address as an example of the apparatus identifier 611is assumed. As will be apparent, the apparatus identifier 611 istransmitted from the game apparatus 1 of the communication partner whenthe automatic wireless communication is performed. The communicationtime 612 indicates time at which the automatic wireless communication isperformed with the game apparatus 1 indicated by the apparatusidentifier 611.

The communication-prohibited apparatus data 61 is generated as datawhich indicates the apparatus identifier 611 identifying thecommunication partner when the automatic wireless communication isperformed and the communication time 612 at which the automatic wirelesscommunication is performed, associating with each other. In the exampleshown in FIG. 5, a case where a piece of the communication-prohibitedapparatus data 61 is stored in the main memory 32 is also shown.However, each time the automatic wireless communication is performed,one or more pieces of the communication-prohibited apparatus data 61 arestored, in the main memory 32, as the data which indicates thecommunication time 612 and the apparatus identifier 611 identifying thecommunication partner, associating with each other. Then, as will beapparent, the communication-prohibited apparatus data 61, which includesthe communication time 612 the elapsed time therefrom until the mainmemory 32 is referred to is longer than a predetermined time period(hereinafter, referred to as communication-prohibited time period), isdeleted from the main memory 32. This allows the prohibition of theautomatic wireless communication with the game apparatus 1 identified bythe apparatus identifier 611 included in the communication-prohibitedapparatus data 61 stored in the main memory 32, until thecommunication-prohibited time period has elapsed.

The communication position image data 62 is data which the server 5transmits as described above which is received and stored in the mainmemory 32.

The communication position request data 63 is data which is used for thegame apparatus 1 to request the communication positions from the server5 as described above. As shown by way of example in FIG. 5, thecommunication position request data 63 includes current position data631. The current position data 631 is data which indicates the currentposition when the game apparatus 1 requests the communication positionsas described above, and is position data which is acquired from the GPS391 when the communication position request data 63 is generated. Thecommunication position request data 63 is generated when theabove-described communication position display program is executed, andis stored in the main memory 32.

The game data 64 is various types of data which is generated inaccordance with the above-described game program being executed.

The various programs 70 are various types of programs which are executedby the CPU 311. For example, the above-described game program, anautomatic wireless communication program, a communication positiondisplay program, and the like are stored as the various programs 70 inthe main memory 32.

This is the description of the data which is stored in the main memory32 of the game apparatus 1 in the present system. Next, data to bestored in the internal data storage memory 33 of the game apparatus 1 inthe present system will be described.

[Data to be Stored in Internal Data Storage Memory 33]

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of data and programs to be storedin the internal data storage memory 33 of each game apparatus 1according to the present embodiment. The internal data storage memory 33stores therein position data 81, automatic wireless communication data82, connection request data 83, connection response data 84, and variousprograms 90. Among the data and programs shown in FIG. 6, the data isdata which is generated or stored in accordance with the programs beingexecuted by the CPU 311. Moreover, among the data and programs shown inFIG. 6, the programs are programs which are loaded from the internaldata storage memory 33 into the main memory 32, according to need, whenthe CPU 311 executes the programs, respectively.

The position data 81 is the position data acquired from the UPS 391 whenthe automatic wireless communication is performed.

The automatic wireless communication data 82 includes a programidentifier 821, transmission item data 822, and reception item data 823.The automatic wireless communication data 82 is data which is stored inthe internal data storage memory 33 and is used for transmitting andreceiving the above-described item data thorough the automatic wirelesscommunication. The program identifier 821 is an identifier foridentifying the game program which handles the transmission item data822 and the reception item data 823 which are included in the sameautomatic wireless communication data 82. The transmission item data 822is data which indicates an item specified by the user as describedabove. The reception item data 823 is data which is stored in theinternal data storage memory 33, as item data received from another gameapparatus 1 by the automatic wireless communication being performed.

Each time a new game program is executed in the game apparatus 1, theautomatic wireless communication data 82 is newly generated as datawhich includes the program identifier 821 identifying the new gameprogram, and stored in the internal data storage memory 33. Therefore,while the internal data storage memory 33 is shown by way of example inFIG. 6 in which one piece of automatic wireless communication data 82 isstored, one or more pieces of the automatic wireless communication data82 are stored in the internal data storage memory 33. The new automaticwireless communication data 82 is generated so as to include thetransmission item data 822 and the reception item data 823 eachindicating Null. If the user specifies an item as described above whenthe game program is executed, the transmission item data 822 is updatedso as to indicate the specified item. The transmission item data 822updated at this point is the transmission item data 822 that is includedin the automatic wireless communication data 82 which includes theprogram identifier 821 identifying the game program in execution.Furthermore, when the item data is received from another game apparatus1 by the automatic wireless communication being executed, the receptionitem data 823 is updated so as to indicate the item data. The receptionitem data 823 updated at this point is the reception item data 823 whichis included in the automatic wireless communication data 82 whichincludes the program identifier 821 identifying the game program thathandles the received item data.

The connection request data 83 is data for requestingtransmission/reception of the item data from another game apparatus 1through the automatic wireless communication. The connection requestdata 83 includes an automatic wireless communication program identifier831 and a source apparatus identifier 832. The automatic wirelesscommunication program identifier 831 is data which indicates the programidentifier 821 included in all the automatic wireless communication data82 that is stored in the internal data storage memory 33. The sourceapparatus identifier 832 is an identifier for uniquely identifying theown game apparatus 1. In the present embodiment, the use of a MACaddress of the own game apparatus 1 as an example of the sourceapparatus identifier 832 is assumed. The connection request data 83 isloaded from the internal data storage memory 33 when the CPU 311searches for the communication partner of die automatic wirelesscommunication, and is transmitted as a frame, by using the wirelesscommunication module 34.

The connection response data 84 is data which indicates a response tothe above-described connection request data 83 transmitted from anothergame apparatus 1. The connection response data 84 includes an automaticwireless communication program identifier 841, a source apparatusidentifier 842, and a destination apparatus identifier 843. Similarly tothe above-described automatic wireless communication program identifier831, the automatic wireless communication program identifier 841 is datawhich indicates all the program identifier 821. Similarly to theabove-described source apparatus identifier 832, the source apparatusidentifier 842 is an identifier for uniquely identifying the own gameapparatus 1. In the present embodiment, the use of a MAC address of theown game apparatus 1 as an example of the source apparatus identifier842 is assumed as similar to the source apparatus identifier 832. Thedestination apparatus identifier 843 is an identifier for uniquelyidentifying the other game apparatus 1 to which the connection responsedata 84 is transmitted. As will be apparent, the destination apparatusidentifier 843 is the same identifier as the source apparatus identifier832 of the other game apparatus 1 that is included in the connectionrequest data 83 transmitted from the other game apparatus 1. Therefore,in the present embodiment, the destination apparatus identifier 843 isthe MAC address of the other game apparatus 1 to which the connectionresponse data 84 is transmitted.

The various programs 90 are various types of programs which are executedby the CPU 311. For example, the above-described automatic wirelesscommunication program and communication position display program arestored as the various programs 90 in the internal data storage memory33.

This is the description of the data to be stored in the internal datastorage memory 33 of each game apparatus 1 of the present system. Next,data and programs to be stored in the main memory 52 of the server 5will be described.

[Data to be Stored in Main Memory 52]

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of data and programs to be storedin the main memory 52 of the server 5 according to the presentembodiment. The main memory 52 stores therein communication positionimage data 101 and various programs 110. Among the data and programsshown in FIG. 7, the data is data which is generated in accordance withthe programs being executed by the CPU 51. Among the data and programsshown in FIG. 7, the programs are programs which are loaded from the HDD54, according to need, when the CPU 51 executes the programs,respectively.

The communication position image data 101 is data which is generated bythe CPU 51 in accordance with the communication position request data 63transmitted from the game apparatus 1 as described above.

The various programs 110 are programs which are executed by the CPU 51.For example, a program (hereinafter, referred to as server processprogram), which causes the CPU 51 to execute the above-described serverprocess, is stored as the various programs 110 in the main memory 52.

This is the description of the data and programs to be stored in themain memory 52 of the server 5 of the present system. Next, data andprograms to be stored in the HDD 54 of the server 5 will be described.

[Data to be Stored in HDD 54]

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of data and programs to be storedin the HDD 54 of the server 5 according to the present embodiment. TheHDD 54 stores therein server-managed position data 111, map image data112, and various programs 120. Among the data and programs shown in FIG.8, the server-managed position data 111 is data which is generated andaccumulated, in accordance with the above programs being executed by theCPU 51. Among the data and programs shown in FIG. 8, the map image data112 is previously stored data. Among the data and programs shown in FIG.8, the programs are programs which are loaded from the HDD 54 into themain memory 52, according to need, when the CPU 51 executes theprograms, respectively.

The server-managed position data 111 is data in which the communicationpositions indicated by the position data 81 transmitted from each gameapparatus 1 of the present system is accumulated and stored.

The map image data 112 is data which indicates the map image used forgenerating the communication position image data 101 obtained bycropping out the map image. As described above, if the game apparatus 1is, for example, sold on the domestic market, data which indicates themap image of the entire domestic region may be assumed to be the mapimage data 112.

The various programs 120 are various types of programs which areexecuted by the CPU 51. For example, the above-described server processprogram is stored as the various programs 120 in the HDD 54.

This is the description of the example of the data and programs to bestored in the HDD 54 of the server 5 according to the presentembodiment. Next, an operation of the CPU 311 of the game apparatus 1and an operation of the CPU 51 of the server 5, according to the presentembodiment, will be described in detail.

[Automatic Wireless Communication Program]

To begin with, an operation, which is performed when the CPU 311 of thegame apparatus 1 executes the automatic wireless communication program,will be described in detail. First, when the game apparatus 1 is turnedon, a boot program (not shown) is executed by the CPU 311, which loadsthe automatic wireless communication program stored in the internal datastorage memory 33 to be stored in the main memory 32. The automaticwireless communication program stored in the main memory 32 is thenexecuted by the CPU 311 and therefore, a process shown in a flowchart inFIG. 9 is executed. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of anautomatic wireless communication process which is executed by the CPU311 executing the automatic wireless communication program. It isassumed that, as described above, the automatic wireless communicationprogram is continuously and repeatedly executed as long as the gameapparatus 1 is turned on. In FIG. 9, process steps are each abbreviatedas “S”.

When the automatic wireless communication process starts, the CPU 311first determines whether there is another game apparatus 1 with whichthe communication is allowed (step S101). Specifically, the CPU 311refers to the main memory 32 to determine whether thecommunication-prohibited apparatus data 61, which includes thecommunication time 612 the elapsed time therefrom until the current timeis longer than the communication-prohibited time period, is stored. Ifthere is corresponding communication-prohibited apparatus data 61, theCPU 311 determines in step S101 that there is another game apparatus 1with which the communication is allowed (Yes in step S101). On the otherhand, if there is no corresponding communication-prohibited apparatusdata 61, the CPU 311 determines in step S101 that there is no other gameapparatus 1 with which the communication is allowed (No in step S101).

If the CPU 311 determines that there is another game apparatus 1 withwhich the communication is allowed (Yes in step S101), the CPU 311allows the communication with the other game apparatus 1 (step S105).Specifically, the CPU 311 deletes from the main memory 32 thecommunication-prohibited apparatus data 61 that includes thecommunication time 612 corresponding to the determination conducted instep S101. The communication-prohibited apparatus data 61, which isdeleted as described above since the communication-prohibited timeperiod has elapsed, does no longer correspond to the determination to beconducted in the next step S101, and therefore the communication isallowed with the game apparatus 1 which has the apparatus identifier 611that is included in the communication-prohibited apparatus data 61. Thusthe communication becomes again available.

If the CPU 311 determines that there is no game apparatuses 1 with whichthe communication is allowed (No in step S101) or allows thecommunication (step S105), the CPU 311 transmits the connection requestdata 83 by broadcasting, using the wireless communication module 34(step S110). After transmitting the connection request data 83, the CPU311 determines whether it has received the connection response data 84from another game apparatus 1, while waiting for a predetermined lengthof time (hereinafter, referred to as connection response waiting time)(step S115).

Here, among the process steps shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9, processsteps of step S120 through step S140 correspond to the process in thecase where the CPU 311 has received the connection response data 84 fromanother game apparatus 1. On the other hand, among the process stepsshown in the flowchart of FIG. 9, process steps of step S155 throughstep S190 correspond to the case where the CPU 311 receives theconnection request data 83 from another game apparatus 1. In thefollowing, the process in the case where the CPU 311 has received theconnection response data 84 from another game apparatus 1 wilt bedescribed.

If the CPU 311 determines that it has received the connection responsedata 84 (Yes in step S115), the CPU 311 determines whether there is needfor performing the automatic wireless communication with the other gameapparatus 1 that has transmitted the connection response data 84 (stepS120). Specifically, the CPU 311 determines whether the internal datastorage memory 33 stores therein the automatic wireless communicationdata 82 which includes the program identifier 821 corresponding to anyprogram identifier indicated by the automatic wireless communicationprogram identifier 841 included in the received connection response data84. If the internal data storage memory 33 stores the correspondingautomatic wireless communication data 82, the CPU 311 determines thatthere is need for performing the automatic wireless communication (Yesin step S120). On the other hand, if the internal data storage memory 33does not store therein the corresponding automatic wirelesscommunication data 82, the CPU 311 determines that there is no need forperforming the automatic wireless communication (No in step S120).

If the CPU 311 determines that there is need for performing theautomatic wireless communication (Yes in step S120), the CPU 311transmits the transmission item data 822 (step S125). Specifically, theCPU 311 transmits the program identifier 821 and the transmission itemdata 822, which are included in the automatic wireless communicationdata 82 corresponding to the determination conducted in step S120, tothe other game apparatus 1 indicated by the source apparatus identifier842 included in the connection response data 84 which was determined tobe received in step S115, which transmits, to the other game apparatus 1which has executed the game program, data indicative of the itemspecified by the user in the game program indicated by the programidentifier 821 included in the corresponding automatic wirelesscommunication data 82.

After transmitting the transmission item data 822, the CPU 311 registersthe other game apparatus 1, to which the transmission item data 822 hasbeen transmitted, as a communication-prohibited apparatus (step S130).Specifically, the CPU 311 regards the source apparatus identifier 842,which is included in the connection response data 84 which wasdetermined to be received in step S115, as the apparatus identifier 611.The CPU 311 then generates the communication-prohibited apparatus data61 which includes the apparatus identifier 611 and the communicationtime 612 at which the transmission item data 822 is transmitted, andstores the generated data in the main memory 32.

After registering the communication-prohibited apparatus, the CPU 311determines whether it has received the transmission item data 822 whichis transmitted from the destination of the transmission item data 822,while waiting through a predetermined length of time (hereinafter,referred to as data waiting time) (step S135).

If the CPU 311 determines that it has received the transmission itemdata 822 (Yes in step S135), the CPU 311 stores the receivedtransmission item data 822 (step S140). Specifically, when storing thetransmission item data 822, the CPU 311 refers to the main memory 32 tosearch for the automatic wireless communication data 82 which includesthe program identifier 821 which is transmitted together with thetransmission item data 822 as described above. The CPU 311 then updatesthe reception item data 823 included in the found automatic wirelesscommunication data 82 by the received transmission item data 822.

On the other hand, if the CPU 311 determines that it does not receivethe transmission item data 822 (No in step S135), the CPU 311 assumesthat the automatic wireless communication with the source of theconnection response data 84 received in step S115 is interrupted forsome reason, and therefore repeats the process from the start.

Next, the case where the CPU 311 receives the connection request data 83from the other game apparatus 1 will be described. If the CPU 311determines that it does not receive the connection response data 84 (Noin step S115), the CPU 311 determines whether it has received theconnection request data 83 from another game apparatus 1, while waitingthrough a predetermined length of time (hereinafter, referred to asconnection request waiting time) (step S155).

If the CPU 311 determines that it has received the connection requestdata 83 (Yes in step S155), the CPU 311 determines whether thecommunication with the other game apparatus 1, which has transmitted theconnection request data 83, is prohibited (step S160). Specifically, theCPU 311 refers to the main memory 32 to determine whether thecommunication-prohibited apparatus data 61 which includes, as theapparatus identifier 611, the source apparatus identifier 832 includedin the connection request data 83 which was determined to be received instep S155 is stored in the main memory 32. In the case where thecorresponding communication-prohibited apparatus data 61 is stored inthe main memory 32, the CPU 311 determines that the communication withthe other game apparatus 1 that has transmitted the connection requestdata 83 is prohibited (Yes in step S160). On the other hand, if there isno corresponding communication-prohibited apparatus data 61 stored inthe main memory 32, the CPU 311 determines that the communication withthe other game apparatus 1 that has transmitted the connection requestdata 83 is not prohibited (No in step S160).

If the CPU 311 determines that the communication is not prohibited (Noin step S160), the CPU 311 determines whether there is need forperforming the automatic wireless communication with the other gameapparatus 1 that has transmitted the connection request data 83 whichwas determined to be received in step S55 (step S165). Specifically, theCPU 311 determines whether the internal data storage memory 33 storestherein the automatic wireless communication data 82 which includes theprogram identifier 821 corresponding to any program identifier indicatedby the automatic wireless communication program identifier 831 includedin the received connection request data 83. In the case where thecorresponding automatic wireless communication data 82 is stored in theinternal data storage memory 33, the CPU 311 determines that there isneed for performing the automatic wireless communication (Yes in stepS165). On the other hand, in the case where no corresponding automaticwireless communication data 82 is stored in the internal data storagememory 33, the CPU 311 determines that there is no need for performingthe automatic wireless communication (No in step S165).

If the CPU 311 determines that there is need for performing theautomatic wireless communication (Yes in step S165), the CPU 311transmits the connection response data 84 (step S170). Specifically, theCPU 311 transmits the connection response data 84 to the other gameapparatus 1 identified by the source apparatus identifier 832 includedin the connection request data 83 which was determined to be received instep S155.

After transmitting the connection response data 84, the CPU 311registers the other game apparatus 1, to which the connection responsedata 84 has been transmitted, as the communication-prohibited apparatus(step S175). Specifically, the CPU 311 regards the source apparatusidentifier 832, which is included in the connection request data 83which is determined to be received in step S155, as the apparatusidentifier 611. The CPU 311 then generates the communication-prohibitedapparatus data 61 which includes the apparatus identifier 611 and thecommunication time 612, at which the connection response data 84 istransmitted, and stores the generated data in the main memory 32.

After registering the communication-prohibited apparatus, the CPU 311determines whether it has received the transmission item data 822 fromthe destination of the connection response data 84, while waitingthrough the data waiting time (step S180).

If the CPU 311 determines that it has received the transmission itemdata 822 (Yes in step S180), the CPU 311 stores the receivedtransmission item data 822 (step S185). Specifically, when storing thetransmission item data 822, the CPU 311 refers to the main memory 32 tosearch for the automatic wireless communication data 82 that includesthe program identifier 821 transmitted together with the transmissionitem data 822 as described above. The CPU 311 then updates the receptionitem data 823 included in the automatic wireless communication data 82found from the searching, by the received transmission item data 822.

After storing the received transmission item data 822, the CPU 311transmits the transmission item data 822 included in the automaticwireless communication data 82 found from the searching in step S185,together with the program identifier 821 included in the automaticwireless communication data 82 (step S190).

On the other hand, if the CPU 311 determines that it does not receivethe transmission item data. 822 (No in step S180), the CPU 311 assumesthat the automatic wireless communication with the source of theconnection request data 83, which was determined to be received in stepS155, is interrupted for some reason, and therefore repeats the processfrom the start.

As described above, when either of the process steps (step S120 throughstep S140) for the case where the CPU 311 has received the connectionresponse data 84 from another game apparatus 1 and the process steps(step S155 through step S190) for the case where the CPU 311 receivesthe connection request data 83 from another game apparatus 1 iscompleted, the CPU 311 acquires from the GPS 391 the position data 81indicative of a position of the own game apparatus 1 when the automaticwireless communication is performed, and stores the acquired positiondata 81 in the internal data storage memory 33 (step S145). Afterstoring the position data 81, the CPU 311 transmits the stored positiondata 81 to the server 5 (step S150).

This is the description of the example of the automatic wirelesscommunication process according to the present embodiment.

In order for the CPU 311 to transmit the position data 81, theabove-described automatic communication program may be configured asdescribed in the following. More specifically, the AP2 according to thepresent embodiment, typically, periodically transmits beacon data fornotifying the game apparatus 1 present within the communicable range ofthe existence of itself. Therefore, the automatic wireless communicationprogram is configured such that, if the CPU 311 waits as long as theconnection request waiting time in the process of step S155 of theabove-described automatic wireless communication program and fails toreceive the connection request data 83, the CPU 311 further waits toreceive the beacon data. The time for which the CPU 311 waits for thebeacon data is assumed to be a predetermined length of time(hereinafter, referred to as beacon data waiting time). The automaticwireless communication program is configured such that, in the casewhere the CPU 311 determines that it has received the beacon data, theCPU 311 transmits response data, which indicates that the CPU 311 hasreceived the beacon data, to the AP2 that has transmitted the beacondata. Typically, when the AP2 has received the response data, the AP2transmits data indicative of the allowance of data transmission to thegame apparatus 1 which the response data is transmitted from. Therefore,the automatic wireless communication program can be configured suchthat, when the CPU 311 has received the data indicative of the allowanceof data transmission, the CPU 311 transmits the position data 81 storedin the internal data storage memory 33. Thus configuring the automaticwireless communication program allows each game apparatus 1 toautomatically transmit the position data 81 to the server 5 via the AP2when there are the AP2 within the communicable range. Therefore, if theposition at which the game apparatus 1 performs the automatic wirelesscommunication is within the range communicable with the AP2 the gameapparatus 1 is able to instantly transmit the position data 81indicative of the communication position to the server 5 via the AP2.Also, the automatic wireless communication program may be configuredsuch that, if the position at which the game apparatus 1 performs theautomatic wireless communication is not within the range communicablewith the AP2, the game apparatus 1 accumulates and stores the positiondata 81, which indicates the communication position failed to betransmitted, in the internal data storage memory 33. This allows, wheneach game apparatus 1 has moved into the range communicable with theAP2, the game apparatus 1 to automatically and collectively transmit tothe server 5 the position data 81 accumulated when the position at whichthe game apparatus 1 performs the automatic wireless communication isnot within the range communicable with the AP2.

Also, in the case of causing the game apparatus 1 to execute theautomatic wireless communication program modified as described above,parent-child relationship between the game apparatuses 1 executing theautomatic wireless communication therebetween may be defined.Specifically, the automatic wireless communication program may beconfigured such that, when the game apparatuses 1 start the automaticwireless communication therebetween, the game apparatus 1 that startsthe automatic wireless communication by transmitting the connectionrequest data 83 is defined as a parent side and the game apparatus 1that transmits the connection response data 84 in response to thereception of the connection request data 83 and then starts theautomatic wireless communication is defined as a child side.

Also, the transmission of the position data 81 indicative of theposition of the game apparatus 1 at which the automatic wirelesscommunication is performed may be periodically and automaticallyexecuted as a task through a predetermined time period.

[Server Process Program]

Next, an operation when the CPU 51 of the server 5 executes the serverprocess program will be described in detail. First, when the server 5 isturned on, a boot program (not shown) is executed by the CPU 51, whichloads the server process program stored in the HDD 54 to be stored inthe main memory 52. The programs stored in the main memory 52 are thenexecuted by the CPU 51, and thereby the process shown in a flowchart ofFIG. 10 is performed. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of theserver process performed by the CPU 51 executing the server processprogram. In FIG. 10, process steps are each abbreviated as “S”.

When the server process starts, the CPU 51 first determines whether ithas received the position data 81 from any game apparatus 1 of thepresent system (step S201). If the CPU 51 determines that it hasreceived the position data 81 (Yes in step S201), the CPU 51 adds thereceived position data 81 as data indicative of the communicationposition to the server-managed position data 111 (step S205).

On the other hand, if the CPU 51 determines that it does not receive theposition data 81 (No in step S201), or it adds the position data 81(step S205), the CPU 51 determine whether it has received thecommunication position request data 63 from any game apparatus 1 of thepresent system (step S210).

if the CPU 51 determines that it has received the communication positionrequest data 63 (Yes in step S210), the CPU 51 generates thecommunication position image data 101 as described above (step S215).The CPU 51 then transmits the generated communication position imagedata 101 to the source of the communication position request data 63(step S220).

If the CPU 51 transmits the communication position image data 101 (stepS220), or determines that it does not receive the communication positionrequest data 63 (No in step S210), the CPU 51 returns the process tostep S201.

[Communication Position Display Program]

Next, an operation when the CPU 311 of the game apparatus 1 executes thecommunication position display program will be described in detail.First, when the game apparatus 1 is turned on, a boot program isexecuted by the CPU 311 as described above, which loads the automaticwireless communication program stored in the internal data storagememory 33 to be stored in the main memory 32. The CPU 311 then executesthe automatic wireless communication program stored in the main memory32.

Here, the CPU 311 executes a launcher program (not shown) in parallelwith executing the automatic wireless communication program. Thelauncher program is a program which determines a program selected by theuser from among a plurality of programs and causes the selected programto be executed. Such programs which the launcher program allows the userto select includes the game program (not shown) and any applicationprograms (not shown) which are already stored in the internal datastorage memory 33, the game program stored in the external memory 39which is already connected to the game apparatus 1, and the like. Whenthe launcher program is executed by the CPU 311, the user can select anyprogram from among these programs. The communication position displayprogram is stored in the internal data storage memory 33 as describedabove. Therefore, if the CPU 311 executes the launcher program, thecommunication position display program also becomes selectable. When theuser selects any program, the CPU 311 determines the selected program,based on the operation data output from each operation button 37operated by the user.

If the user selects the communication position display program while thelauncher program is being executed, the communication position displayprogram is loaded from the internal data storage memory 33 and stored inthe main memory 32. The communication position display program stored inthe main memory 32 is then executed by the CPU 311, thereby the processshown in a flowchart of FIG. 11 is performed. FIG. 11 is a flowchartshowing an example of the communication position display processperformed by the CPU 311 executing the communication position displayprogram. In FIG. 11, process steps are each abbreviated as “S”.

When the communication position display process starts, the CPU 311acquires the position data from the GPS 391 (step S301), generates thecommunication position request data 63 which includes the position dataas the current position data 631 in the main memory 32, and transmitsthe generated communication position request data 63 to the server 5(step S305).

After transmitting the communication position request data 63, the CPU311 determines whether it has received the communication position imagedata 101 which is transmitted from the server 5 as described above inaccordance with the transmission of the communication position requestdata 63, while waiting for a predetermined time period (step S310).

If the CPU 311 determines that it has received the communicationposition image data 101 (Yes in step S310), the CPU 311 stores thecommunication, position image data 62 as data obtained by receiving thecommunication position image data 101 in the main memory 32 as describedabove (step S315). After storing the communication position image data62 in the main memory 32, the CPU 311 displays on the LCD 38 thecommunication position image represented by the communication positionimage data 62 in the main memory 32 as described above (step S320).

After displaying the communication position image (step S320), ordetermining that the CPU 311 does not receive the communication positionimage data 101 (No in step S310), the CPU 311 determines whether theuser has chosen to end the communication position display process, basedon the operation data output from each operation button 37 (step S325).If the CPU 311 determines that the user has chosen to end thecommunication position display process (Yes in step S325), the CPU 311ends the communication position display process. On the other hand, ifthe CPU 311 determines that the user does not choose to end thecommunication position display process (No in step S325), the CPU 311returns the process to step S320 and continues displaying thecommunication position image.

In step S301, if the CPU 311 fails to transmit the communicationposition request data 63 for some reason, such as there is no AP2 withinthe communication range of the wireless communication module 34, the CPU311 may display an image which notifies so on the LCD 38, and then endsthe communication position display process.

The CPU 311 of the game apparatus 1 and the CPU 51 of the server 5operate as described above, and thereby the user of the game apparatus 1is able to know the position, at which the automatic wirelesscommunication is performed, near the current position of the user.Therefore, according to the information processing system of the presentembodiment, a pleasure to find a location at which the automaticwireless communication can highly likely be performed to, for example,acquire an item necessary for proceeding the game can be provided to theuser.

In the embodiment described above, the case where each game apparatus 1which makes up the information processing system 10 transmits to theserver 5 the position data indicative of the current position, at whichthe game apparatus 1 performs the automatic wireless communication, asdata indicative of the communication position, has been described by wayof example. Also, in the embodiment described above, the case where,when the communication position request data 63 is transmitted from thegame apparatus 1, the server 5 which makes up the information processingsystem 10 generates the communication position image indicative of thecommunication position, at which the automatic wireless communication isperformed, as record information indicating the record of the automaticwireless communication performed in the information processing system10, has been described by way of example. That is, in the embodimentdescribed above, a description has been given by way of example in thecase where each game apparatus 1 which makes up the informationprocessing system 10 transmits to the server 5 the communicationposition at which the automatic wireless communication is performed, andthe server 5 generates, based on the communication position, the recordinformation indicative of the record in executing the automatic wirelesscommunication in the information processing system 10.

[Modification 1]

In the embodiment described above, the case where the communicationposition image in which the respective communication positions of thegame apparatuses 1 which make up the information processing system 10are plotted on the map image is displayed, for example, as shown in FIG.4 and thereby the distribution of the communication positions is shown,has been described by way of example. In another embodiment, however, asshown by way of example in FIG. 12, the communication positions may begrouped and displayed on the LCD 38. More specifically, from among thecommunication positions searched for as described above, the CPU 51 ofthe server 5 groups the communication positions that are within lessthan a predetermined distance therebetween when the CPU 51 receives thecommunication position request data 63 transmitted from the gameapparatus 1. The CPU 51 may then generate the communication positionimage on which a region including therein the grouped communicationpositions are indicated and further superimposed. FIG. 12 shows anexample of the display screen of the LCD 38 displaying the communicationposition image on which the region including therein the groupedcommunication positions is further superimposed as described above. InFIG. 12, the communication position image, on which grouped regionimages Gr are further superimposed, in addition to the communicationpositions Ti and the current position Gi in the above-describedembodiment, is displayed on the LCD 38. The grouped region image Gr isan image indicative of the region formed of the grouped communicationpositions Ti, showing a solid border enclosing the grouped communicationpositions Ti. Also, the CPU 51 may generate, the communication positionimage on which center position images Ty indicative of a center positionof the grouped region image Gr are further superimposed as, for example,cross-shaped images as shown in FIG. 12. While, in FIG. 12, the symbolGr is added merely to one solid border, the other solid borders are alsoassumed to be the grouped region images Gr. Similarly, while, in FIG.12, the symbol Ty is added merely to one cross-shaped image, the othercross-shaped images are also assumed to be the center position images Tyindicative of the center positions of the grouped communicationpositions, respectively. When displaying the grouped region image Gr, atleast either one of the communication position Ti and the centerposition image Ty may not be superimposed on the communication positionimage. Also, when displaying the center position image Ty, at least oneof the communication position Ti and the grouped region image Gr may notbe displayed. Also, for example, by transmitting position information(such as latitude and longitude) on the center position to a web siteproviding an existing map information service, a name of a buildingpositioned at the center position of each group, a region name, anaddress, or the like may be acquired and further displayed. In anotherembodiment, by using map image data 112 which further includesinformation indicative of the outline of each building, thecommunication position image, on which an image where the outline of thebuilding located at the center position of the group is filled by coloris further superimposed, may be generated. When displaying thecommunication position image on which the image where the outline of thebuilding is filled by color is further superimposed, the communicationposition image on which at least one of the communication position Ti,the current position Gi, the center position image Ty, and the groupedregion image Gr is further superimposed, may be generated. Thecommunication positions which are grouped by the CPU 51 of the server 5are not limited to the communication positions that are within less thanthe predetermined distance therebetween, and may be the communicationpositions that satisfy any positional relationship. Also, the CPU 51 ofthe server 5 may group the communication positions, not based on thepositional relationship such as the actual distance between thecommunication positions, but based on positional relationship on the mapimage. By grouping the communication positions, based on the positionalrelationship on the map image, the communication positions can also beoptimally grouped in accordance with a map image scale. Furthermore, theimage indicative of the current position Gi may be superimposed on thecommunication position image by the CPU 51 of the server 5, or thecommunication position image may be displayed such that the imageindicative of the current position Gi is superimposed thereon at aposition indicated by the position data 81 acquired for displaying thecommunication position image by the CPU 311 of the game apparatus 1.

[Modification 2]

In the embodiment described above, the case where the communicationposition image in which the respective communication positions of thegame apparatuses 1 which make up the information processing system 10are plotted on the map image is displayed on the LCD 38 and therebyshowing the distribution of the communication positions, has beendescribed by way of example. In another embodiment, however, as shown byway of example in FIG. 13, the communication position image, on which animage indicative of a mesh (an indicator for dividing the map intopredetermined regions) is further superimposed, may be generated. Theimage indicative of the mesh here is an image which divides thecommunication position image into square-shaped regions each having apredetermined size. FIG. 13 shows an example of the display screen ofthe LCD 38 displaying the communication position image on which theimage indicative of the mesh which divides the communication positionimage into square-shaped regions having the predetermined size isfurther superimposed as described above. In FIG. 13, the communicationposition image, on which a mesh image Me indicative of the mesh issuperimposed, in addition to the communication position Ti and thecurrent position Gi which are described above, is displayed on the LCD38. The image indicated by the mesh image Me is not limited to the imagewhich divides the communication position image into square shapedregions and may be any image lithe image is a meshed image which dividesthe communication position image into polygonal shapes. Also, instead ofthe mesh image Me, any image which divides the communication positionimage may be displayed, such as an image indicative of one or morehorizontal lines having predetermined intervals therebetween, whichdivides the communication position image only in the vertical direction,or an image indicative of one or more vertical lines havingpredetermined intervals therebetween, which divides the communicationposition image only in the horizontal direction. Furthermore, the meshimage Me indicative of a mesh the fineness of which is changed accordingto the density of the communication positions included in the entirecommunication position image displayed may be generated and superimposedon the communication position image.

In another embodiment in which the above-described mesh image Me isfurther superimposed on the communication position image, thecommunication position image, in which the regions into which thecommunication position image is divided by the mesh arc classified bycolor according to the density of the communication positions includedin each region, may be generated as shown by way of example in FIG. 14.More specifically, the CPU 51 of the server 5 calculates the density ofthe communication positions searched as described above for eachmesh-divided region. The CPU 51 then generates the communicationposition image in which an image having a color depth according to thecalculated density is superimposed on each mesh-divided region. FIG. 14shows an example of the display screen of the LCD 38 displaying thecommunication position image in which each region is classified by coloraccording to the density calculated for each mesh-divided region asdescribed above. In FIG. 14, the communication position image, on whichsuperimposed images Nu are further superimposed, in addition to the meshimage Me, is displayed on the LCD 38. The superimposed image Nu has acolor according to the density of the communication positions in eachregion. While, in FIG. 14, the symbol Nu is added merely to the imagesuperimposed on one region, images superimposed on the other regions arealso assumed to be the images having a color according to the density ofthe communication positions in the mesh-divided region. When generatingthe communication position image on which the superimposed image Nu issuperimposed, at least one of the communication position Ti, the currentposition Gi, the grouped region image Gr, and the Center position imageTy may be superimposed on the communication position image. Also, whensuperimposing the superimposed image Nu on the communication positionimage, the mesh image Me may not necessarily be superimposed.

In another embodiment which displays the mesh image Me, thecommunication position image, on which a mesh the fineness of which isadjusted according to the density of the communication positionsincluded in the mesh-divided region is further superimposed, may begenerated as shown by way of example in FIG. 15. More specifically, theCPU 51 of the server 5 calculates the density of the communicationpositions searched as described above for each mesh-divided region. TheCPU 51 then generates the communication position image on which anothermesh according to the calculated density is further superimposed as asubmesh. FIG. 15 shows an example of the display screen of the LCD 38displaying the communication position image on which submesh images Smare further superimposed as described above. The submesh image Smindicates a submesh having the fineness according to the densitycalculated for each mesh-divided region. In FIG. 15, the communicationposition image, on which the submesh image Sm indicative of the submeshadjusted so as to have higher fineness as the density of thecommunication positions in each region becomes higher is furthersuperimposed, in addition to the mesh image Me, is displayed on the LCD38. The submesh image Sm may not necessarily, but preferably besuperimposed on the communication position image together with the meshimage Me. Furthermore, in the case of displaying the submesh image Sm,if the communication position Ti is further displayed, the communicationposition image may be generated such that at least one of the currentposition Gi, the grouped region image Or, and the center position imageTy is superimposed thereon. When generating the communication positionimage on which the submesh image Sm and the mesh image Me aresuperimposed, the superimposed image Nu may further be superimposed onthe communication position image. Also, the region on which the submeshimage Sm is superimposed may be a region having the density calculatedas described above the value of which is greater than a predeterminedthreshold value.

[Modification 3]

In another embodiment, as shown by way of example in FIG. 16, the numberof communication positions included in a predetermined region iscalculated as communication count of the communications performed in theregion, and the communication position image indicative of thedistribution of the communication count may be generated. Morespecifically, the CPU 51 of the server 5 calculates, for example, thenumber of communication positions in each mesh-divided region as thecommunication count in the region, based on the communication positionssearched as described above. The CPU 51 then generates the communicationposition image in which each mesh-divided region is classified by coloraccording to the calculated communication count in the region. FIG. 16shows an example of the display screen of the LCD 38 displaying thecommunication position image, on which images classifying thepredetermined regions by color according to the communication countcalculated for each predetermined region, are further superimposed asdescribed above. In FIG. 16, the communication position image, on whichthe mesh image Me as an image indicative of the predetermined region issuperimposed and communication count images Kn each of which indicateseach region by color according to the communication count in the region,are further superimposed, is displayed on the LCD 38. While, in FIG. 16,the symbol Kn is added merely to the communication count imagesuperimposed on one region, the communication count images superimposedon the other regions are also assumed to be the images having the coloraccording to the density of the communication count in the mesh-dividedregion. When generating the communication position image on which thecommunication count image Kn is further superimposed, at least one ofthe communication position Ti, the current position Gi, the groupedregion image Gr, and the center position image Ty may be furthersuperimposed on the communication position image. Also, if thecommunication count image on which the communication count image Kn isfurther superimposed is generated, the mesh image Me may not necessarilybe superimposed.

[Modification 4]

In another embodiment, for example, an area of the communicationpositions may be displayed in a list. More specifically, the map imagedata 112, which further includes data in which the position on the mapand the area are associated with each other, is previously stored in theHDD 54. If the communication positions are requested by any gameapparatus 1 which makes up the information processing system 10, the CPU51 of the server 5 first refers to the current position data 631 asdescribed above. The CPU 51 then searches the communication positionsstored in the HDD 54 for the communication positions included in aregion having the predetermined size in which the current positionindicated by the referred current position data 631 is in the centerposition. The CPU 51 next refers to the aforementioned map image data112 to extract areas associated with the searched communicationpositions, respectively. The CPU 51 generates data that lists theextracted areas by, for example, a text string or image, instead of thecommunication position image data 101. The CPU 51 then transmits thedata that lists the areas to the game apparatus 1 that has requested thecommunication positions. FIG. 17 shows an example of the display screenof the LCD 38 displaying the data that lists the areas of the respectivecommunication positions near the current position of the game apparatus1 as described above. In FIG. 17, area images Ju are listed on the LCD38. The area image Ju indicates an area name of an area that includesthe communication positions in the region having the predetermined sizenear the game apparatus 1 that has requested the communicationpositions. While, in FIG. 17, a symbol Ry is added merely to one areaimage, the other similar images indicative of areas are also assumed tobe the images that indicate the area names of areas that include thecommunication positions, respectively. Also, when generating the datalisting the areas, the server 5 may generate data indicative of thecommunication frequency in each area obtained by calculation based onthe number of communication positions, the communication count, or thedensity of the communication positions included in the area associatedwith the area name. FIG. 17 shows an example of the display screen ofthe LCD 38 listing the area images Ju further associated withcommunication frequency images Th. The communication frequency image Thindicates how frequent the communication is performed in the areas ofthe respective area names, ranking the frequency in the order of Athrough D. When generating the data listing areas, the CPU 51 may alsogenerate data in which at least either one of the area image Ju andcommunication frequency image Th is classified by color, according tothe communication frequency. Also, the CPU 51 may generate, instead ofthe communication position image data 101, data which lists, not onlythe areas, but also region names of regions which are obtained bydividing the map by a predetermined method and in which thecommunication positions are included. In another embodiment, instead ofthe region names of the respective regions that include thecommunication positions, at least either one of the following may belisted the name of the building present at the center position of thecommunication positions that are grouped as described above; and theaddress (place name) of the center position.

[Modification 5]

In the embodiment described above, the case where the communicationpositions are transmitted from the game apparatus 1 to the server 5 hasbeen described by way of example. In another embodiment, however, thecommunication position at which the automatic wireless communication isperformed and then communication date and time may be associated witheach other and transmitted from the game apparatus 1 to the server 5,for example. More specifically, the automatic wireless communicationprogram is configured such that, when it is desired that each gameapparatus 1 which makes up the information processing system 10 performsthe automatic wireless communication, the communication position and thecommunication date and time are associated with each other andtransmitted to the server 5. The server process program is configuredsuch that the server 5 then accumulates and stores in the HDD 54 thecommunication position and the communication date and time associatedwith each other which have been transmitted from the game apparatus 1which makes up the information processing system 10. This allows theserver 5 to generate the record information which indicates thecommunication position and the communication date and time associatedwith each other, when the server receives the request for thecommunication positions from the game apparatus 1. In this case, forexample, the communication position display program may be configuredsuch that, when transmitting the communication position request data 63,the game apparatus 1 transmits the communication position request data63 which includes not only the current position data 631 and also dataindicative of a time period specified by the user. This allows the CPU51 to search the communication positions accumulated in the HDD 54 foronly the communication positions associating with the communication dateand time that fall within the time period designated by the user. TheCPU 51 is then be able to generate the record information indicative ofthe communication positions associating with the time period designatedby the user to transmit to the game apparatus 1 that has requested thecommunication positions. What is transmitted from the game apparatus 1,being associated with the communication position, is not limited to thecommunication date and time and may be any one or more types ofinformation, such as information indicative of date, time, and day, asfar as the information regards time at which the automatic wirelesscommunication is performed.

Also, in another embodiment in which the communication position and thecommunication date and time are associated with each other andtransmitted to the server 5, transition of the communication count inthe region near the current position can be displayed, for example. Morespecifically, in this case, the CPU 311 of the game apparatus 1 requeststhe transition of the communication count, instead of the communicationpositions. Specifically, the CPU 311 of the game apparatus 1 transmitsdata (hereinafter, referred to as transition request data) to requestthe transition of the communication count, instead of the communicationposition request data 63 that is requested in the embodiments describedabove. When requesting the transition of the communication count, theCPU 311 first accepts the designation of a time period from the user.The CPU 311 determines the time period designated by the user, based onthe operation data output from each operation button 37. The CPU 311then transmits to the server 5 the current position data 631 and data(hereinafter, referred to as designated time period data), whichindicates the time period designated by the user, in the transitionrequest data, thereby requesting the transition of the communicationcount. After accepting the request of the transition of thecommunication count, the CPU 51 of the server 5 first refers to thecurrent position data 631 included in the transition request data whichhas been received from the game apparatus 1. The CPU 51 next searchesthe communication positions accumulated in the HDD 54 for thecommunication positions that are included in the region having thepredetermined size in which the current position indicated by thereferred current position data 631 is in the center position.Furthermore, the CPU 51 extracts, from among the searched communicationpositions, the communication positions which associate with thecommunication date and time that falls within the time period indicatedby the designated time period data included in the transition requestdata. This allows the CPU 51 to generate an image indicative of thetransition of the communication count, based on the extractedcommunication positions and the communication date and time associatingwith the extracted communication positions. For example, the CPU 51classifies the communication date and time each which associate with theextracted communication positions, respectively, by day of the week, andcounts the communication positions, which associate with thecommunication date and time classified by day of the week, as thecommunication count. The CPU 51 next generates image data indicative ofthe transition of the communication count for each day of the week,instead of the communication position image data 101 that is generatedin the embodiments described above. The CPU 51 then transmits the imagedata (hereinafter, referred to as transition image data) indicative ofthe transition of the communication count to the game apparatus 1 thathas requested the communication positions. FIG. 18 shows an example ofthe display screen of the LCD 38 displaying the image represented by thetransition image data which has been thus transmitted from the CPU 51 ofthe server 5. In FIG. 18, a time period image Ki indicative of the timeperiod designated by the user and a transition image Su indicative ofthe communication count for each day of the week during the time periodare displayed on the LCD 38, as an example of the image represented bythe transition image data. Also, the CPU 51 of the server 5 may generatethe transition image data which represents an image on which a regionimage Ro is further superimposed as shown in FIG. 18. The region imageRo indicates the region name of the current position of the user. Also,in another embodiment in which the communication position and thecommunication date and time are associated with each other andtransmitted to the server 5, the CPU 51 of the server 5 may generate animage for displaying the transition of the communication count in theregion and time period designated by the user, for example. In thiscase, when requesting the communication positions, the CPU 311 maytransmit to the server 5 data indicative of the location of the regiondesignated by the user in the transition request data, instead of thecurrent position data 631.

Also, in another embodiment in which the communication position and thecommunication date and time are associated with each other andtransmitted to the server 5, the transition of the communication countin the region near the current position can be predicted and displayed,for example. More specifically, in this case, the CPU 311 of the gameapparatus requests the prediction of the transition of the communicationcount from the server 5, instead of requesting the transition of thecommunication count. Specifically, the CPU 311 of the game apparatus 1transmits data (hereinafter, referred to as prediction request data) torequest the prediction of the transition of the communication count,instead of the transition request data. When requesting the predictionof the transition of the communication count, the CPU 311 first acceptsdesignation of a prediction time period from the user. The CPU 311determines the prediction time period designated by the user, based onthe operation data output from each operation button 37. The CPU 311then transmits to the server 5 the prediction request data whichincludes data (hereinafter, referred to as prediction time period data)indicative of the prediction time period and the current position data631, thereby requesting the prediction of the transition of thecommunication count. After accepting the request of the prediction ofthe transition of the communication count, the CPU 51 of the server 5first determines data necessary for predicting the transition of thecommunication count during the prediction time period indicated by theprediction time period data included in the prediction request data.Here, the data necessary for predicting the transition of thecommunication count is, for example, the position data 81 that indicatesthe communication positions associating with the respectivecommunication date and time in past one year, in the case where a methodwhich requires the communication positions associating with therespective communication date and time in the past one year is used topredict the transition of the communication count during a period fromthe current date and time thorough to one week later therefrom. The CPU51 next refers to the current position data 631 included in theprediction request data which has been received from the game apparatus1. The CPU 51 next searches the communication positions accumulated inthe HDD 54 for the communication positions that are included in thepredetermined region in which the current position indicated by thereferred current position data 631 is in the center position. Aftersearching for the communication positions, the CPU 51 extracts datacorresponding to the data already determined to be necessary for theprediction from among the position data 81 that indicates thecommunication positions that has been searched for. This allows the CPU51 to generate an image indicative of the prediction result of thetransition of the communication count, based on the extractedcommunication positions and the communication date and time associatingwith the extracted communication positions. For example, the CPU 51classifies the communication date and time each associating with theextracted communication positions, respectively, date by date. Afterclassifying the communication date and time date by date, the CPU 51counts the communication positions associating with the communicationdate and time classified by date, as the communication count. The CPU 51then calculates a count as a predicted communication count. The count isobtained by averaging the communication count counted and classifieddate by date, by day of the week. Next, instead of the transition imagedata, the CPU 51 generates image data which indicates the transition ofthe communication count predicted for each day of the week as the resultobtained by predicting the transition of the communication count foreach day of the week from now through to one week later therefrom. TheCPU 51 then transmits the image data (hereinafter, referred to asprediction image data) indicative of the result obtained by predictingthe transition of the communication count to the game apparatus 1 thathas requested the transition of the communication count. FIG. 19 showsan example of the display screen of the LCD 38 displaying the imagerepresented by the prediction image data transmitted from the CPU 51 ofthe server 5 as described above. In FIG. 19, a prediction time periodimage Yk indicative of the prediction time period designated by the userand a predicted transition image To indicative of the result obtained bypredicting the communication count are displayed on the LCD 38, as anexample of the image represented by the prediction image data. Whendisplaying the predicted transition image Ys, the region image Ro mayfurther be displayed as described with reference to FIG. 18. In anotherembodiment in which the transition of the communication count ispredicted, the CPU 51 of the server 5 may generate an image fordisplaying the result obtained by predicting the transition of thecommunication count in the region designated by the user, for example.In this case, when requesting the prediction of the transition of thecommunication count, the CPU 311 of the game apparatus 1 may transmit tothe server 5 data indicative of the location of the region designated bythe user in the prediction request data, instead of the current positiondata 631.

[Modification 6]

In the above description, the modification in which the communicationposition and the communication date and time are associated with eachother and transmitted to the server 5 has been described. In anotherembodiment, however, the program identifier 821 corresponding to thetransmission item data 822 communicated by the automatic wirelesscommunication and the communication position may be associated with eachother and transmitted from the game apparatus 1 to the server 5. Morespecifically, the wireless communication program is configured suchthat, when each game apparatus 1 which makes up the informationprocessing system 10 performs the automatic wireless communication, theprogram identifier 821 corresponding to the transmission item data 822and the communication position are associated with each other andtransmitted to the server 5. The server process program is configuredsuch that the server 5 accumulates and stores in the HDD 54 thecommunication position and the program identifier 821, being associatedwith each other, which are transmitted from each game apparatus 1 whichmakes up the information processing system 10. This allows the server 5to generate the record information which indicates the communicationpositions and the program identifier 821 associating with each other,when the server 5 receives the request of the communication positions bythe game apparatus 1. In this case, the communication position displayprogram may be configured such that, for example, when the gameapparatus 1 transmits the communication position request data 63, thecommunication position request data 63 which includes not only thecurrent position data 631 but also the program identifier 821 indicativeof the game program specified by the user is transmitted. This allowsthe CPU 51 to search the communication positions accumulated in the HDD54 for only the communication positions that associate with the programidentifier 821 specified by the user. The CPU 51 is then able togenerate the record information which indicates the program identifier821 and the communication positions of the transmission item data 822,which is handled by the game program identified by the programidentifier 821 specified by the user, being associated with each other,and transmits the record information to the user that has requested thecommunication positions. The game apparatus 1 is able to display onlythe communication positions of the transmission item data 822 that ishandled by the game program identified by the program identifier 821specified by the user. In this case, an image showing any informationindicating the game program, such as the title of the game program (thetitle of the game) indicated by the program identifier 821 or an iconindicating the game program, may further be displayed on the LCD 38.This allows the user of the game program to understand the communicationpositions at which the automatic wireless communication is performedeven for the item data which is handled by a game program owned byrelatively low number of users. The program identifier 821 which isincluded when the communication position request data 63 is transmittedfrom the game apparatus 1 is not limited to the program identifier 821of the game program specified by the user. For example, the programidentifier 821 of the game program which is stored in the internal datastorage memory 33, or the program identifier 821 of the game programstored in the external memory 39 connected to the external memory I/F 35may be automatically acquired and included in the communication positionrequest data 63. Instead of the identifier uniquely identifying theprogram, the communication position and any information uniquelyindicates the program may be associated with each other and transmittedfrom the game apparatus 1.

[Modification 7]

In the above description, the modification in which the communicationposition and the program identifier 821 are associated with each otherand transmitted to the server 5 has been described. In anotherembodiment, however, the communication position and a user identifieruniquely identifying the user of the game apparatus 1, which hasperformed the automatic wireless communication, may be associated witheach other and transmitted from the game apparatus 1 to the server 5,for example. More specifically, the wireless communication program isconfigured such that, when each game apparatus 1 which makes up theinformation processing system 10 performs the automatic wirelesscommunication, the user identifier of the game apparatus 1 and thecommunication position are associated with each other and transmitted tothe server 5. Here, the MAC address of the game apparatus 1 can be usedas the user identifier of the game apparatus 1. The server processprogram is configured such that the server 5 accumulates and stores inthe HDD 54 the communication position and the user identifier, beingassociated with each other, which are transmitted from each gameapparatus 1 which makes up the information processing system 10. Thisallows the server 5 to generate the record information which indicatesthe communication positions and the user identifier associating witheach other, when received the request of the communication positionsfrom the game apparatus 1. In this case, the communication positiondisplay program may be configured such that, when the game apparatus 1transmits the communication position request data 63, the communicationposition request data 63, which includes not only the current positiondata 631 but also the user identifier indicative of the user which isspecified by the user, is transmitted, for example. This allows the CPU51 to search the communication positions accumulated in the HDD 54 foronly the communication positions that associate with the user identifierspecified by the user. The CPU 51 is then able to generate the recordinformation which indicates the user identifier and the communicationpositions of the game apparatus 1 of the user indicated by the useridentifier specified by the user, being associated with each other, andtransmits the record information to the user that has requested thecommunication positions. In this case, the user identifier indicative ofthe user specified by the user may be a user identifier which ispreviously registered in the game apparatus 1 of the user who specifies.The user identifier which is previously registered in the game apparatus1 may be limited to the user identifiers agreed by users indicated bythe user identifiers. Instead of the identifier uniquely identifying theuser, any information which uniquely indicates the user and thecommunication position may be associated with each other and transmittedfrom the game apparatus 1.

In another embodiment in which the communication position and the useridentifier are associated with each other and transmitted to the server5, the communication count may be managed on a per-user basis. Morespecifically, in the case where the communication position and the useridentifier are associated with each other and transmitted to the server5, the communication position and the user identifier are associatedwith each other, accumulated, and stored in the HDD 54 as describedabove. The CPU 51 of the server 5 then counts the communicationpositions for each user identifier accumulated in the HDD 54 to furthermanage as the communication count of the communications performed by theuser who is indicated by the user identifier. This allows the CPU 51 toidentify the user corresponding to the communication count by rankingthe user in the descending order of the communication count, forexample. If the communication position, the user identifier, and thecommunication date and time are associated with one another andtransmitted to the server 5, it is possible to rank the user in thedescending order of the communication count during a predetermined timeperiod. In the case where the user is ranked as described above and ifthe users from the first rank up to a predetermined rank are fixed,special item data according to the rank may be transmitted to theseusers via the Internet communication network 3 and AP2 at time when theuser is able to accept the special item data.

[Modification 8]

In the embodiment described above, the case of displaying thecommunication position at which the automatic wireless communication isperformed has been described. In another, embodiment, however, theautomatic wireless communication program may be configured such that,the automatic wireless communication program is performed by the CPU 311of the game apparatus 1, and information (hereinafter, referred to asacceptance information), which indicates that the game apparatus 1 isnow able to accept the communication by the automatic wirelesscommunication, may be instantly transmitted to the server 5, togetherwith the position information (the current position data 631).Furthermore, the automatic wireless communication program may beconfigured such that, when the communication position display program isexecuted, data to request a position of the game apparatus 1 that canaccept the communication by the automatic wireless communication istransmitted to the server 5, rather than the communication position.When requested the position of the game apparatus 1 that can accept theautomatic wireless communication, the CPU 51 of the server 5 maytransmit data indicative of the position to the requestor game apparatus1. This allows the user of each game apparatus 1 which makes up theinformation processing system 10 to understand the position at which theautomatic wireless communication can be performed more certainly.

[Modification 9]

In the embodiment described above, the game apparatuses 1 performing theautomatic wireless communication therebetween transmit the position data81 to the server 5. In another embodiment, however, only either one ofthe game apparatuses 1 performing the automatic wireless communicationtherebetween may transmit the position data 81. More specifically, onlyeither one of the game apparatuses 1 performing the automatic wirelesscommunication therebetween, such as the game apparatus 1 of the parentside described above, may transmit the communication position. Inanother embodiment, the game apparatus 1 according to theabove-described embodiment may be configured to be able to perform theautomatic wireless communication with other types of game apparatuseswhich are capable of performing the automatic wireless communication butincapable of acquiring the position information. In this case, if thegame apparatus 1 performs the automatic wireless communication with theother type of the game apparatus, the communication position istransmitted only from the game apparatus 1.

Also, the CPU 51 of the server 5 may perform a process such asassociating the communication positions, which are indicated by therespective position data 81 transmitted from the game apparatuses 1performing the automatic wireless communication therebetween, with eachother, or deleting either one of the communication positions. As amethod of determining the respective communication positions of the gameapparatuses 1 performing the automatic wireless communicationtherebetween, the method of determining the communication positions thatare within less than the predetermined distance therebetween may beused. In the modification in which the communication position and thecommunication date and time are associated with each other andtransmitted to the server 5 as described above, if the communicationpositions are within less than the predetermined distance therebetweenand also if the interval between the communication date and timeassociated with the respective communication positions is within apredetermined time period, it may be determined that the communicationpositions are those of the game apparatuses 1 performing the automaticwireless communication therebetween. As another method of determiningthe communication positions of the respective game apparatuses 1performing the automatic wireless communication therebetween, anidentifier or a number uniquely identifying the automatic wirelesscommunication performed may be added to the position data 81 when theCPU 311 of each game apparatus 1 transmits the position data 81. In thiscase, the CPU 51 of the server 5 is able to determine that thecommunication positions indicated by the position data 81 having thesame identifier or number added thereto overlap with each other. As amethod of associating the communication positions indicated by therespective position data 81 transmitted from the game apparatuses 1performing the automatic wireless communication therebetween with eachother, the apparatus identifier of the own game apparatus 1 and theapparatus identifier of the game apparatus 1 that is the communicationpartner may be transmitted together with the position data 81. Morespecifically, the apparatus identifier (the MAC address, for example) ofthe own game apparatus 1, the apparatus identifier (the MAC address, forexample) of the game apparatus 1 that is the communication partner, andthe communication date and time are transmitted to the server 5 when theautomatic wireless communication is performed. This allows the positiondata 81 to be transmitted to the server 52 from the game apparatuses 1performing the automatic wireless communication therebetween, togetherwith the same data which includes the apparatus identifier and thecommunication date and time, respectively. Therefore, the CPU 51 of theserver 5 is able to associate the position data 81 transmitted togetherwith the same data with each other, or deter mine that the position data81 overlap with each other, and the like. In this ease, the CPU 51 ofthe server 5 is also able to delete the communication position which isindicated by either one of the overlapping position data 81. Thecommunication positions can be managed by the server 5 regarding thatautomatic communication is performed once despite the position data 81is transmitted from each of the game apparatuses 1 performing theautomatic wireless communication therebetween as described above.

[Modification 10]

In the embodiment described above, the CPU 311 of the game apparatus 1displays the image represented by the communication position image data101 transmitted from the server 5, as it is. In another embodiment,however, among the process of generating the image to be displayed onthe LCD 38, part or the entirety of the process steps that can beperformed alternatively by the game apparatus 1 can be performed in thegame apparatus 1. For example, in the case of displaying thecommunication position image in the embodiment described above, when theCPU 51 of the server 5 receives the communication position request data63, the CPU 51 may perform only the process step of transmitting thedata representing the map image of the corresponding region and dataindicative of the corresponding communication positions. On the otherhand, the CPU 311 of the game apparatus 1 may perform the process stepof generating an image by performing the process step of plotting thecommunication positions indicated by the received data on the map imageindicated by the received data, and display the image on the LCD 38.Among the process, which is performed by the CPU 51 of the server 5, ofgenerating the image to be displayed on the LCD 38, part or the entiretyof the process steps which can be performed alternatively by the gameapparatus 1 is performed by the game apparatus 1 as described above, andthereby the respective processing burdens at the game apparatus 1 andthe server 5 can be optimized.

[Other Modification]

In the embodiment described above, the position is determined using theGPS 391 built in the external memory 39, and the position data isgenerated. In another embodiment, however, the GPS 391 that is built inthe game apparatus 1 may be used. Also, instead of using the GPS 391, aconventionally known method using the database having stored therein theMAC address of the AP2 and the location, being associated with eachother, may be used to determine the position. More specifically, whenperforming the automatic wireless communication with another gameapparatus 1 using the wireless communication module 34 in the gameapparatus 1, the CPU 311 accesses the AP2 to acquire the MAC address ofthe AP2. Furthermore, the CPU 311 may access the aforementioned databasevia the AP2 and the Internet communication network 3 to refer to theposition information associating with the MAC address of the AP2 todetermine the position at which the automatic wireless communication isperformed, based on the position indicated by the position information.Using the method of acquiring the position information by use of the MACaddress of the AP2 as described above allows the communication positionto be transmitted to the server 5 even when the automatic wirelesscommunication is performed indoors where a signal required by the GPS391 for the determination is unreceivable. Moreover, the determinationof the position using the GPS 391 and the determination of the positionusing the MAC address of the AP2 may be alternately conductedappropriately, based on the intensity of a signal received by the GPS391 and the intensity of a signal (such as the signal indicative of theabove-mentioned beacon data) transmitted from the AP2. This allows thecommunication position to be transmitted to the server 5, regardless ofwhether the position at which the automatic wireless communication isperformed is indoors or outdoors.

In the embodiment described above, the case where the game apparatus 1performs the communication with the server 5 via the Internetcommunication network 3 by performing the wireless communication withthe AP2 has been described by way of example. In another embodiment,however, the game apparatus 1 may communicate with the server 5 via theInternet communication network 3 by using the second generationcommunication network (2 G communication network), the second and a halfgeneration communication network (2.5G communication network) or thethird generation communication network (3 G communication network) whichare commonly used for wireless call or wireless communication betweenmobile phones. In this case, a wireless communication module wirelesslyconnectable to the second generation communication network, the secondand a half generation communication network, or the third generationcommunication network may be further provided in the game apparatus 1,separately from the wireless communication module 34 described above.The game apparatus 1 and the various programs described above may beconfigured such that the CPU 311 communicates with the server 5 usingthe wireless communication module provided in the game apparatus 1separately from the wireless communication module 34. Moreover, in thiscase, as the method of determining the position of the game apparatus 1,a conventionally known method, which determines the position, based onthe result obtained by a communication with a base station which formsthe second generation communication network, the second and a halfgeneration communication network, or the third generation communicationnetwork, may be used. Furthermore, in this case, the AP2 may include thefunction as the base station constituting the second generationcommunication network, the second and a half generation communicationnetwork, or the third generation communication network.

In the above description, the case of displaying the communicationpositions Ti on the map image, the outline or name of the building, orthe like has been described. The same method may be used to displaylines of trains where the automatic wireless communication is performed,or display such lines of trains according to a time period designated bythe user.

Also, in the information processing system 10 according to anotherembodiment, according to the request received from any game apparatus 1which makes up the information processing system 10, the gameapparatuses 1 present near the current position of the game apparatus 1may be caused to repeatedly transmit data indicative of the respectivecommunication positions or the like. Furthermore, in this case, theserver 5 may give the game apparatuses 1 instructions such as to extendor shorten transmission intervals, as compared to a predetermineddefault setting, at which the game apparatuses 1 are caused torepeatedly transmit the data indicative of the respective communicationpositions or the like.

Also, in the information processing system 10 according to anotherembodiment, the communication count may be regulated by using the useridentifier described above such that the automatic wirelesscommunication with the user of the same game apparatus 1 is limited to,for example, once a day. Also, in this ease, the communication positionof the game apparatus 1 of the user the communication count of which hasreached the limit may not be displayed.

In the embodiment described above, the CPU 51 of the server 5 generatesthe communication position image data 101. In another embodiment,however, the map image data 112 required for generating thecommunication position image data 101 may be previously stored in thegame apparatus 1, and the CPU 311 of the game apparatus 1 may generatethe communication position image data 101 by cropping a map imagerequired for displaying the communication position image on the LCD 38out of a map image represented by the map image data 112. In this case,the CPU 51 of the server 5 may generate data which indicates only thecorresponding communication positions, according to the request of thecommunication positions. In the case where the CPU 51 of the server 5generates the data indicative of only the corresponding communicationpositions, the CPU 311 of the game apparatus 1 may download map imagedata for use, which includes the communication positions indicated bythe data, from a database on the Internet.

Also, in another embodiment in which the game apparatus 1 receives thedata indicative of only the communication positions from the server 5,the data may be used in the game apparatus 1 without displaying(visualizing) the communication positions. For example, a configurationto realize conventionally known electronic compass and vibrationfunctions may be provided to the game apparatus 1, and the communicationpositions may be notified by vibration when the user aims the gameapparatus 1 to a position indicated by the received data.

Also, in another embodiment, a history of the communication positions atwhich the own game apparatus 1 has performed the automatic wirelesscommunication may be individually stored in the game apparatus 1 as wellas the communication position is transmitted to the server 5. Thecommunication positions indicated by the individually stored history maybe displayed when the communication position display program isexecuted.

Also, in the embodiment described above, the case where the user usesthe operation buttons 37 to operate the game apparatus 1 has beendescribed by way of example. In another embodiment, however, the gameapparatus 1 may be operated by using, for example, a touch panelprovided covering the entire surface of the LCD 38 or another pointingdevice to accept the operations such as the selection of the program orthe designation of the time period as described above.

Also, in the embodiment described above, the communication positionswithin the region, based on the current position, having thepredetermined size are displayed. In another embodiment, however, theuser may be able to specify, based on the current position, the size ofthe region of the communication positions for display. Also, in anotherembodiment, the map image once displayed may be expanded or reduced. Inthis case, the server 5 may generate the communication position imagedata 101 made of a map image which has already relatively highresolution, or the user may receive map image data of a region after theexpansion or reduction from the server 5 every time the user performsoperations of expansion or reduction.

Also, the programs which are previously stored in the internal datastorage memory 33 may be programs acquired from another device by thecommunication with the other device. For example, the programs may beacquired by downloading from a predetermined server via the Internetcommunication network 3, or may be acquired by downloading apredetermined program stored in a stationary game apparatus byperforming the communication with the stationary game apparatus.

Also, the data which is stored in the internal data storage memory 33 inthe embodiment described above may all be stored in the main memory 32as long as the power is supplied to the game apparatus 1. Then, when anoperation to turn off the game apparatus 1 is performed, the gameapparatus 1 may be turned off after necessary data is stored in theinternal data storage memory 33.

Also, in the embodiment described above, the case where the data to becommunicated using the automatic wireless communication is dataindicative of the item handled in the game program has been described byway of example. The data to be communicated through the automaticwireless communication is, however, not limited to the data indicativeof the item in the game program, and may be, for example, data whichindicates a character the user obtained, or the like when the game isexecuted. Moreover, the data to be communicated by the automaticwireless communication is not limited to the data handled by the gameprogram. For example, it is of course possible to communicate datacreated by any application software by the automatic wirelesscommunication, such as data indicative of a character which is createdby application software such as character creation software. In thiscase, a program identifier which uniquely identifies the applicationprogram is used as the above-described program identifier 821.

Also, in the embodiment described above, the automatic wirelesscommunication program is continuously executed by the CPU 311 as long asthe game apparatus 1 is turned on. In another embodiment, however, amicrocomputer (not shown) built in the wireless communication module 34may be caused to execute the automatic wireless communication program.More specifically, the game apparatus 1 may be configured to have afunction (what is called power saving mode (sleep mode)) to reduce powerconsumption by interrupting the power supply to the part or wholecomponents of the internal configuration other than the wirelesscommunication module 34. In this case, among the various types of datarequired to execute the automatic wireless communication program, thedata (such as the communication-prohibited apparatus data 61) to bestored in the main memory 32 is provided internal of the wirelesscommunication module 34 and stored in a memory connected to themicrocomputer. In addition, in this case, when the game apparatus 1 isturned on the microcomputer of the wireless communication module 34loads the automatic wireless communication program from the internaldata storage memory 33 to store in the memory that is included in themodule, and then executes the automatic wireless communication program.When the game apparatus 1 turns into the power saving mode, themicrocomputer of the wireless communication module 34 continuesexecuting the automatic wireless communication program to perform theautomatic wireless communication, according to need, transmitting orreceiving the various types of data (such as the transmission item data822, the reception item data 823, the connection request data 83, andthe connection response data 84) that is stored in the internal datastorage memory 33. Causing the microcomputer built in the wirelesscommunication module 34 to execute the automatic wireless communicationprogram as described above allows the automatic wireless communicationto be performed even when the game apparatus 1 is in the power savingmode. Also, not limiting to the microcomputer built in the wirelesscommunication module 34, any processing means (calculation means) may becaused to execute the automatic wireless communication program in thepower saving mode if the power is saved in part of the functions of theCPU 311.

Also, in the embodiment described above, the case where the game programusing the automatic wireless communication is executed by the gameapparatus 1 has been described. In the game apparatus 1 described above,however, any information processing program, such as game program orapplication program, is executable, regardless of whether the automaticwireless communication is in use or not. In this case, such informationprocessing program is executed by being selected by the user when theabove-described launcher program is executed by the CPU 311.

Also, in the embodiment described above, the game apparatus 1 having theinternal configuration required to achieve the present invention hasbeen described by way of example, as shown by way of example in FIG. 1for the convenience of the description of the present invention.However, it is understood that the internal configuration of the gameapparatus 1 is not limited to the components as shown in FIG. 1 and anycomponents to enhance the interest and practicability of the gameprogram or the application program that are executed by the gameapparatus 1 may be provided as the internal configuration of the gameapparatus 1. The examples are a speaker for emitting a sound accordingto the program, a touch panel which is provided together with theoperation buttons 37, an external data storage memory I/F for attachingan external data storage memory attachable separately from the externalmemory 39, a camera to take an image, an LCD to configure the gameapparatus 1 to have two screens altogether with the LCD 38, a GPU(Graphic Processing Unit) for assisting the process for the CPU 311 todisplay an image on the LCD, a microphone which receives a sound inputfrom the surroundings, and the like.

Also, in the embodiment described above, the server 5 transmits therecord information, which includes the communication position, to thegame apparatus 1, according to the request received from the gameapparatus 1. In another embodiment, however, the record informationwhich indicates the communication positions may be periodicallydownloaded from the server 5 by a program, like the automatic wirelesscommunication program, which is executed independently of and inparallel to another program. Alternatively, the record informationindicative of the communication positions which is periodicallytransmitted from the server 5 may be received by the program, like theautomatic wireless communication program, which is executedindependently of and in parallel to the other program.

Also, in the embodiment described above, the case where thecommunication position image represented by the communication positionimage data 101 once received is continuously displayed until the end isselected has been described. In another embodiment, however, thecommunication position image represented by the communication positionimage data 101 once received may be updated, for example. Specifically,for example, when displaying the communication position image, the useris allowed to select the update of the communication position image. Ifthe user selects the update of the communication position image, thecommunication position request data 63 is transmitted from the gameapparatus 1 to the server 5 and thereby the game apparatus 1 receivesthe latest communication position image data 101. In this manner, afterthe communication position image represented by the communicationposition image data 101 once received is displayed, the displayedcommunication position image can be updated by the latest image. Anexample method of allowing the user to select the update of thecommunication position image is to previously determine an operationbutton to be pressed for the update among the operation buttons 37. Theupdate of the communication position image may be conducted when theuser selects the update, or may be automatically conducted in apredetermined time after the communication position image is oncedisplayed.

Also, in the embodiment described above, the communication positionsmanaged by the server 5 is output in a form of an image and displayed.In another embodiment, however, the communication positions managed bythe server 5 may be output in voice. Describing a specific examplethereof, when the server 5 receives the communication position requestdata 63 from the game apparatus 1, the CPU 51 of the server 5 determinesthe number of communication positions that exist within thepredetermined region based on the current position indicated by thecurrent position data 631 included in the communication position requestdata 63. An example of a method of determining the number ofcommunication positions in this case is a method of determining whetherthe number of communication positions is equal to or greater than apredetermined threshold value. If the CPU 51 determines that the numberof communication positions is equal to or greater than the predeterminedthreshold value, data representing, in voice, an address or name of thecenter position of the predetermined region, for which the number ofcommunication positions is determined, is transmitted to the gameapparatus 1 that has transmitted the communication position request data63. The game apparatus 1 then outputs the date represented in voice.This allows the voice notification to the user of the game apparatus 1of the communication positions. In this case, it is required to furtherinclude a speaker for outputting the voice, in addition to the internalconfiguration of the game apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1.

Also, while, in the embodiment described above, the ease where thepresent invention is applied to the hand-held game apparatus 1 has beendescribed, the present invention is applicable not limiting to thehand-held game apparatus. For example, the present invention is alsoapplicable to information processing apparatuses, e.g., portableinformation terminal apparatuses such as mobile phones, personalhandyphone systems (PHS), and PDAs.

While the invention has been described in detail, the foregoingdescription is in all aspects illustrative and not restrictive. It isunderstood that numerous other modifications and variations can bedevised without departing from the scope of the invention.

1-34. (canceled)
 35. An information processing system comprising: aplurality of first information processing apparatuses; and a secondinformation processing apparatus, the plurality of first informationprocessing apparatuses each comprising: a first acquisition unitconfigured to acquire position information indicating a position of thefirst information processing apparatus; a first storage unit configuredto store program identifier information indicating an identifier of aprogram executable on the first information processing apparatus; and atransmission unit configured to transmit the position information andthe program identifier information to the second information processingapparatus, and the second information processing apparatus comprising: asecond acquisition unit configured to acquire a map image; and ageneration unit configured to generate a map in which an image of theprogram indicated by the program identifier information is superposed onthe map image at the position indicated by the position informationtransmitted by each transmission unit.
 36. The information processingsystem according to claim 35, wherein: the second information processingapparatus further includes a reception unit configured to receiveprogram identifier information for a program designated by a user, andthe generation unit generates a map in which an image of the programindicated by the program identifier information received by thereception unit, from among pieces of program identifier informationtransmitted by the plurality of transmission units is superposed on themap image.
 37. The information processing system according to claim 35,wherein the generation unit generates a map in which a program name asthe image of the program is superposed on the map image.
 38. Theinformation processing system according to claim 35, wherein thegeneration unit generates a map in which an icon as the image of theprogram is superposed on the map image.
 39. The information processingsystem according to claim 35, wherein the second information processingapparatus further includes a second storage unit configured to store insuch a manner as to accumulate the position information and the programidentifier information transmitted by each transmission unit, associatedwith each other.
 40. The information processing system according toclaim 35, wherein the second information processing apparatus furtherincludes a third storage unit configured to store the map image.
 41. Theinformation processing system according to claim 35, wherein the programis a game program.
 42. The information processing system according toclaim 35, wherein each of the plurality of first information processingapparatuses includes a global positioning system unit configured toacquire the position information.
 43. An information processingapparatus comprising: a storage unit configured to store a map image; areception unit configured to receive, from each of a plurality of otherinformation processing apparatuses, program identifier informationindicating an identifier of a program executable on the otherinformation processing apparatuses, and position information indicatinga position of the other information processing apparatus; and aprocessing system including at least one processor, the processingsystem configured to generate a map in which an image of the programindicated by the program identifier information is superposed on the mapimage at the position indicated by the position information received bythe reception unit.
 44. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium having stored therein an information processing programexecutable by a computer of an information processing apparatus thatincludes a storage unit configured to store a map image, the informationprocessing program comprising instructions that are, when executed bythe computer, configured to: receive, from each of a plurality of otherinformation processing apparatuses, program identifier information thatindicates an identifier of a program executable on the other informationprocessing apparatus; receive, from each of a plurality of otherinformation processing apparatuses, position information indicating aposition of the other information processing apparatus; and generate amap in which an image of the program indicated by the program identifierinformation is superposed on the map image at the position indicated bythe received position information.
 45. An information processing methodof using a processing system that includes at least one processor of acomputing apparatus, the method comprising: receiving, from each of aplurality of other information processing apparatuses, programidentifier information indicating an identifier of a program executableon the other information processing apparatus; receiving, from each of aplurality of other information processing apparatuses, positioninformation indicating a position of the other information processingapparatus; and generating, using the processing system, a map in whichan image of the program indicated by the program identifier informationis superposed on a map image at the position indicated by the receivedposition information.